Fighting To Live
by Taylor Dixon
Summary: (Based on characters Taylor & Reagan from TWDTS) Taylor and Reagan wander into a store in Atlanta to escape from walkers after they find that the refugee center is destroyed and overrun. They stumble upon Rick's group and join them. Everything changes when Taylor develops a crush on the leader's son. Carl/OC rated T for language. please R&R!
1. Found

Taylor saw a walker approach her on the street behind the buildings in Atlanta and pulled her sister against the wall. They had gone into Atlanta to get to the refugee center but they had learned that the center was overrun with the infected before they had gotten there, now the were trying to escape the infested city alive. Reagan pulled out her knife and leaned forward, preparing to lunge forward and execute the walker in front of them, but her little sister shook her head no. Reagan reluctantly sheathed her knife and turned to Taylor, silently asking her 'where to now?' because Taylor was the smarter and more clever sister, and most importantly, she kept calm in a situation like this. Taylor looked left and right down the alleyway and didn't see any walkers but the one that had just caught a whiff of their scent. Taylor saw a door that was open just a tiny crack and she pointed to it. Reagan nodded in agreement, they'd go there to hide until the walkers were distracted and they had a plan to escape. Taylor glanced down at her sister's sheathed knife and tilted her head towards the flesh-eating being. Reagan unsheathed her knife and tightened her grip on it as Taylor held up three fingers. She lowered one, then the other one. When Taylor lowered her index finger Reagan dashed ahead of her and stabbed the walker in the back of its head, killing it. Reagan yanked out her knife, black blood dripping off of it, and waved Taylor over to her. Taylor sprinted across the street and slipped through the doorway her sister right behind her. Reagan shut the door behind them softly, making sure that the sound of it closing wouldn't echo throughout the building. The girls panted in the darkness from running. Taylor asked Reagan after her breathing became regular and her eyes got somewhat used to the darkness,

"Rea, can you get the flashlights?"

"Yeah. Here,"

answered Reagan as she dug around in the backpack she was carrying for a moment and produced two black flashlights that they had taken from a hardware store. Taylor pushed the button and light flooded the area around the two sisters. Taylor saw Reagan's apple green eyes shine in the light as she turned her own flashlight on. Taylor took a few steps forward and pointed the beam of the flashlight around the large room and saw no walkers. Taylor heard Reagan zip up her backpack and walk up behind her. Reagan looked down at her knife covered in guts and was about to wipe the blood off on her jeans but Taylor bent down and gave her a light blue rag to clean it off with. Reagan cleaned off the blood and handed her sister the rag, Taylor took it, folded it in half, and shoved it in her back pocket. Taylor saw a dim light shining through glass doors at the front of the building, like the ones she'd seen at malls. Reagan walked past her younger sister and shone her flashlight on the racks of clothes and tables with jewelery on them. Reagan called over to Taylor,

"C'mon Tay. We need new clothes."

Taylor groaned softly. It was the end of the world and what was her teenage sister worried about, shopping, some things never change. Taylor pulled off her backpack and unzipped it and began to find clothes that would fit her while her sister did the same. She shoved a few pairs of jeans in her bag along with shorts, plain T-shirts, a gray jacket, and some long-sleeved flannel shirts for winter. Taylor and Reagan met up at the table with shoes on it. They both grabbed a pair of sneakers and in addition Taylor grabbed combat boots while her sister grabbed some black Converse All Stars. The two of them would share because they both wore a size 9 in women's. The door that they had came through burst open and the two sisters turned around in surprise to see four people hurriedly enter the building while someone else was running across the alley and yet another dashed up the stairs with a rifle in his hands. Taylor and Reagan quietly zipped up their backpacks and put them on as the four of the people who had entered, two men and two women, walked inside and set their things on a metal table just inside the door with boxes around it. The sisters strode forward cautiously and watched them. One of the women, a blonde girl in her mid 30's, turned and saw them so she pointed a pistol in their direction, almost pulling the trigger before Taylor begged,

"Not dead! We're not dead! Don't shoot, please!"

The woman sighed and lowered her gun, the other three survivors were staring at the girls now. An African American man and woman, and a Hispanic man. The blonde woman demanded,

"Who are you? Are you in a group?"

"I'm Reagan Burrows and this is my younger sister, Taylor Burrows. We're on our own."

explained the older sister. Taylor asked the group of four in front of them,

"And who are you?"

"I'm Andrea. This is T-dog or you can call him T. Jacqui, and Morales. The one upstairs is Merle Dixon and the boy outside is Glenn. We have a group just outside of here. We take in survivors so today's your lucky day."

replied the blonde woman a she put a hand on her cocked hip. T-Dog was the African American man, Morales was the Hispanic, and Jacqui was the woman. Taylor and Reagan smiled at each other, they would finally have an actual camp instead of breaking into an empty house or sleeping under or in a tree. All of them heard gunshots and they all exchanged glances, the gunshots would attract every walker in the area. T-Dog suggested to Morales,

"Let's get ready for Glenn."

At that the two men put on hockey helmets, knee pads, shoulder pads, a bulletproof vest. They had finished putting on their black colored gear so they grabbed two baseball bats from a bag and waited by the door with a walkie talkie sitting on the table. Andrea walked up to the sisters and stated,

"I have a sister back at camp. Her name is Amy, you'll like her... You two don't look like sisters."

It was true. Taylor had straight dirty blonde hair down to just below her shoulders and cloudy gray eyes while Reagan had emerald green eyes and curly brown hair that was the same length as Taylor's, plus she was tanner.

"She looks like our mom and I don't take after anybody."

answered Taylor as her color-changing eyes flashed a sky blue for a second as she remembered her abusive father. Andrea nodded in understanding and their conversation ended as a voice came through on the walkie talkie on the table. The two sisters, Andrea, and Jacqui got closer to it and heard Glenn state,

"I'm back. Got a guest. Plus four geeks in the alley."

Morales and T-Dog nodded at each other before they slammed open the door and burst forward, taking down two walkers in front of them and repeatedly smashing their skulls with their baseball bats. An Asian boy and a man with black hair wearing a sheriff outfit ran into the room. The Asian boy wearing a red and yellow baseball cap, Glenn, asked Jacqui as he stared at Taylor and Reagan,

"Who are they?"

"Taylor and Reagan. They're sisters, we found them in here. They're comin' back with us."

The sisters and everyone else, including T-Dog and Morales who hurried back in the room and shut the door, watched as Andrea pinned the man in the sheriff outfit against the table and said,

"You son of a bitch! We ought to kill you."

"Just chill out Andrea. Back off,"

ordered Morales as he sighed. Jacqui added,

"Come on, ease up."

"Ease up? You kiddin' me right? We're dead because of this stupid asshole!"

"Andrea. I said back the hell off... Well, pull the trigger."

stated Morales as he stood next to the woman and began to take off the body armor and helmet. Andrea backed away from the man and tears came to her eyes as she stated with no hope,

"We're dead. All of us. Because of you."

"I don't understand."

responded the man. Morales pulled him over to the doors where walkers now crowded around. Morales said as they saw the walkers outside of the glass doors, the first layer of glass was breaking,

"Look, we came into the city to scavenge supplies. You know what the key to scavenging is? _Surviving! _You know the key to surviving? Sneaking in and out, tiptoeing. Not shooting up the streets like it's the O.K. Corral."

"Every geek for miles around heard you popping off rounds."

stated T-Dog. Taylor added as a walker was using a rock to crack the glass,

"You just rang the dinner bell cowboy."

"Get the picture now?"

snapped Morales. It was silent in the room besides the growling from the walkers just outside the doors. A panel of glass gave way and Andrea and T-Dog backed away and said,

"Oh god."

Reagan pulled Taylor behind her and they stepped backwards a few feet, distancing themselves from the walkers. Andrea asked the cop,

"What the hell were you doing out there anyway?"

"Trying to flag the helicopter."

"Helicopter? Man, that's crap. Ain't no damn helicopter flyin' round here."

stated T-Dog. Jacqui concluded,

"You were chasing a hallucination, imagining things. It happens."

"I saw it."

argued the man. Reagan muttered sarcastically,

"I'm sure you did."

"Hey T-Dog, try that C.B. Can you contact the others?"

asked Morales as he motioned to the radio in his hands. The man asked, causing Taylor and Reagan to scoff at him,

"Others? The refugee center?"

"Yeah, the refugee center. They've got biscuits waiting at the oven for us."

stated Jacqui. T-Dog piped up about the radio,

"Got no signal. Maybe the roof."

A gunshot broke the silence and Andrea asked,

"Oh no. Is that Dixon!?"

"What's that maniac doing?"

asked Morales as another shot rang out. Glenn ordered as everyone dashed up the stairs,

"Come on, let's go."

Four gunshots echoed as they ran up the metal stairs to the roof. Morales asked as he saw Merle standing on the edge of the rooftop laughing,

"Hey, Dixon! Are you crazy!?"

"Oh jeez,"

groaned Andrea as Merle shot another walker with his loud rifle. Merle turned towards them and shouted,

"Hey! Y'all be more polite to a man with a gun! Huh? Ah! Only common sense."

Merle grunted as he jumped off of the roof ledge and down to where everyone else was standing, staring at him. T-Dog jumped off of the sheet metal that covered the pipes and yelled at Merle, causing him to laugh,

"Man, you wastin' bullets we ain't even got! And you're bringing even more of them down on our ass! Man, just chill."

"Hey! Bad enough that I got this taco-vendor on my ass all day. Now I'm gonna take orders from you? I don't think so bro. That'll be the day."

replied Merle. T-Dog asked,

"'That'll be the day'? You got somethin' you want to tell me!?"

"Hey, T-Dog man, just leave it."

ordered Morales. T-Dog disagreed with him,

"No."

"All right? It ain't worth it. Now Merle, just relax, okay? We've got enough trouble."

Morales glanced over at the sisters and the man in the sheriff outfit as he said the last sentence. Merle asked T-Dog,

"You want to know the day?"

"Yeah."

"I'll tell you the day Mr. "Yo." It's the day I take orders from a nigger."

T-Dog shouted in anger, but Merle slammed the but of his rifle in T-Dog's face as he tried to grab him. Taylor and Reagan ran over to T-Dog with Andrea as Morales tried to calm Dixon,

"Hey, come on, Merle. That's enough."

Merle didn't listen and punched T-Dog in the face instead. The sheriff ran over to Merle and tried to tackle him to the ground but Merle saw him coming and spun around to punch him in the face. The man fell t the ground and Merle kicked T-Dog in the gut, making him double over. While T-Dog was distracted Merle kept kicking and punching him. Andrea and the two sisters bellowed,

"Dixon! Stop it! Please!"

"Whoa, cut it out man!"

ordered Morales as Merle slammed T-Dog's face into a pipe. Andrea rushed forward and desperately cried out,

"Stop it! Dixon! Get off him! Dixon, you're gonna hurt him!"

Merle repeatedly kicked T-Dog in the ribs and sat on top of his chest, punching the man in the face over and over. Taylor hid behind her older sister and watched in horror. Everyone was yelling for Merle to stop but the sheriff who was wiping the blood off of his face. Morales tried to pull Dixon off of T-Dog but Merle elbowed him in the gut. Andrea started to cry as Merle pulled out a pistol from his vest pocket and pointed it in T-Dog's face. T-Dog's eyes widened at the sight of the gun and Andrea begged,

"No no no, Please. Please."

"Merle knock it off!"

shouted Reagan as she glared at the man who was hurting T-Dog. Merle glanced up and the older sister then back down at T-Dog. Thunder rumbled in the distance and T-Dog whimpered in fear and pain. Merle spit on T-Dog's shirt and rubbed it in as he shouted. Merle shouted as Glenn, Andrea, Jacqui, Reagan, and Taylor pulled T-Dog away from Merle,

"Yeah! All right! We're gonna have ourselves a little powwow, huh? Talk about, who's in charge. I vote me! Anybody else? Huh? Democracy time, y'all. Show of hands, huh? All in favor? Come on, let's see 'em."

Merle raised his hand but no one else did. Andrea groaned,

"Aw, come on,"

"All in favor? Yeah. That's good."

asked Merle as he pointed the pistol at the seven of them. Everyone raised their hands except for Jacqui and Reagan, who gave him the finger instead. Merle asked,

"Now, that means I'm the boss, right? Yeah. Anybody else? Hmm? Anybody?"

"Yeah."

answered the sheriff as he slammed Merle's gun in his face. Merle fell to the ground and the sheriff took out some handcuffs from his belt. He bent over Merle and latched one on his right wrist and the other onto a small rod that was connected to a pipe. Everyone watched in awe as he heaved Merle up into a sitting position and leaned him against a pipe. Merle screamed,

"Who the hell are you man!?"

"Officer Friendly."

replied the man simply. Taylor knew that wasn't his real name. She watched as 'Officer Friendly' reached behind him and picked up Merle's gun. The sheriff ordered,

"Look here, Merle. Things are different now. There are no _niggers _anymore. No dumb-as-shit, inbred white-trash fools either. Only dark meat and white meat. There's us and the dead. We survive this by pulling _together, _not apart."

"Screw you, man,"

groaned Merle as he faced the sheriff. 'Officer Friendly' said,

"I can see you make a habit of missing the point."

"Yeah. Well, screw you twice,"

grunted Merle. The sheriff cocked Merle's gun and held it against his left temple, quoting him from earlier,

"Ought to be more polite to a man with a gun. Only common sense."

Taylor leaned against her older sister and smiled a little. Merle stated,

"You wouldn't you're a cop."

"All I am anymore is a man looking for his wife and son. Anybody that gets in the way of that is gonna lose. I'll give you a moment to think about that."

whispered the cop in a deadly tone as he pulled the gun away from Merle's head. Officer Friendly patted Merle down and reached in his pocket and found cocaine, which he took. The cop held Merle's chin in his hand roughly and flicked his nose as he said,

"You got some on your nose there."

The cop walked away and over to the small wall on the edge of the building. Merle laughed,

"What are ya gonna do? Arrest me?"

The curly, black haired cop threw the cocaine into the street below them causing Merle to shout in anger,

"Hey! What are you doin'? Man, that was my stuff! Hey! If I get loose you'd better pray! Yeah, you hear me you pig!? You hear me!?"

Merle grunted and tried to escape from the handcuffs so he could get at the cop. The sheriff walked over to the corner of the building and replied,

"Yeah. Your voice carries."

"Do you hear me you filthy pig!?"

Morales followed the sheriff and Taylor pulled out a water bottle from her backpack and handed it to T-Dog. He mumbled after he took a swig of water,

"Thanks."

Taylor smiled at him and listened to Morales and Rick as she peered over the side of the building with Reagan and Andrea on either side of her,

"You're not Atlanta P.D. Where ya from?"

"Up the road a ways."

"Well, Officer Friendly from up the road a ways, welcome to the big city."

Thunder rumbled in the distance and Taylor could hear the walkers moaning on the streets, hundreds of them spread out across the street in front of them. Jacqui joined the other three girls and Andrea commented,

"God, it's like Times Square down there."

"How's that signal?"

asked Morales as he looked down at T-Dog who was leaning against the wall with the radio, facing Merle. T-Dog replied,

"Like Dixon's brain. Weak."

Merle glared at T-Dog and gave him the finger. T-Dog scoffed in response. Morales ordered,

"Keep trying."

"Why? There's nothing they can do. Not a damn thing."

asked Andrea as she walked away to put the water bottle back in the bag. Morales stated,

"Got some people outside the city is all. There's no refugee center. That's a pipe dream."

"Then she's right. We're on our own. It's up to us to find a way out."

said the sheriff. Merle said to Andrea, with everyone watching him as he spoke,

"Good luck with that. These streets ain't safe in this part of town from what I hear. Ain't that right Sugar Tits?"

"Oh god,"

groaned Taylor as she turned back to the sheriff. She asked him,

"What's your name?"

"Rick Grimes. Yours?"

"Taylor Burrows. That's my sister Reagan."

answered Taylor as she jerked her head back to her sister that was standing behind her. Morales repeated,

"The streets ain't safe. Now there's an understatement."

"What about under the streets? The sewers?"

asked Rick. Reagan commented,

"Wow. Good thinkin'."

"Hey Glenn, check the alley. You see any manhole covers?"

ordered Morales. Glenn dashed to the other side of the building, peering over the edge and only saw two walkers. He ran back and stated as the thunder rumbled, closer and louder than last time,

"No, must be all out on the street where the geeks are."

"Maybe not. Old building like this built in the '20s. Big structures often had drainage tunnels into the sewers in case of flooding in the subbasements."

stated Jacqui. Glenn asked her,

"How do you know that?"

"It's my job-was. I worked in the city zoning office."

* * *

Glenn led all of them but T-Dog and Merle downstairs and to a square hole in the ground with a ladder going down it. The seven of them stared down the hole with their flashlights in their hands. They heard water drip down into a puddle, Jacqui was right. Morales asked Glenn,

"This is it? Are you sure?"

"I really scoped this place out the other times I was here. It's the only thing in the building that goes down. But I've never gone down it. Who'd want to, right?"

Everyone turned to face Glenn, he was going down it.


	2. Guts

Glenn glanced over at the others and his face fell as he saw that they were all staring at him, expecting him to go in first. He said sarcastically as he returned his gaze down to the hole in front of him,

"Oh. Great."

"We'll be right behind you."

comforted Andrea after she exchanged glances with Morales and Jacqui. Glenn argued in a stern voice,

"No, you won't. Not you."

"Why not me? Think I can't?"

demanded Andrea. Glenn started,

"I wasn't..."

"Speak your mind."

ordered Rick. Given the courage to speak Glenn ,

"Look, until now I always came here by myself. In and out. Grab a few things, no problem. The first time I bring a group, everything goes to hell... No offense.

Glenn looked at Taylor, Reagan, and Rick as he added the last sentence. Glenn continued after a sigh,

"If you want me to go down this gnarly hole, fine. But only if we do it my way. It's tight down there. If I run into something and have to get out quick, I don't want you all jammed up behind me gettin' me killed. I'll take one person,"

Glenn held his hand up to Rick as he stepped forward, volunteering, and stated,

"Not you either. You've got Merle's gun and I've seen you shoot. I'd feel better if you were out in that store watching those doors, covering our ass. And you've got the only other gun so you should go with him,"

He motioned to Andrea and pointed to Morales,

"You be my wingman. Jacqui stays here. Taylor and Reagan go with Rick and Andrea. Something happens, yell down to us, get us back up here in a hurry."

"Okay."

agreed Jacqui as she quickly nodded once. Rick stated as he put a hand on Glenn's shoulder,

"Okay, everybody knows their jobs."

Glenn put his flashlight in his mouth, keeping it secure with his teeth. He swung his body over the railing and began to descend in the hole, followed by Morales. Everyone else shone their flashlights down into the hole, making it brighter at first. When Glenn reached the bottom he took the flashlight out of his mouth and waited for Morales to get down from the ladder. Rick, Andrea, Taylor, and Reagan walked away from the hole and to the front of the store as soon as they had confirmed that the two men had made it down safely. As the four of them entered the room they looked around and caught sight of the front doors. All of the first layers of glass in the doors was broken but one, the walkers were now slamming themselves against the second and final layer of glass doors, trying to get in and attack the survivors inside. Reagan watched the glass panels shake in the frame and shuddered as she thought about them breaking in and attacking her and her sister. Taylor whispered as she saw her sister shudder and was following Rick and Andrea,

"It's gonna be okay Rea. Don't worry."

Reagan didn't respond to her younger sister and instead they listened to Andrea as she spoke,

"Sorry for the gun in your face. All of you."

The four of them looked at each other for a moment then Rick started walking again and they followed as he stated,

"People do things when they're afraid."

"Not that it was entirely unjustified. You did get us into this."

said Andrea as she glanced up at Rick and stopped walking as she reached the jewelry table and scanned over the items with her large flashlight. Rick asked them,

"If I get us out, would that make up for it?"

"No, but it'd be a start."

answered Andrea as she turned to face Rick. Everyone's eyes darted over to the doors as they heard glass crack, but it was only the sound of walkers stepping on the fallen glass. Rick turned back to face the girls as they discovered that it was a false alarm and suggested to Andrea,

"Next time though, take the safety off. It won't shoot otherwise."

"Oh."

whispered Andrea as she looked down at the pistol in her hands, trying to find the safety. Taylor pointed to it to guide her as Rick stepped towards her and asked,

"Is that your gun?"

"It was a gift. Why?"

replied Andrea. Rick held his hand out for the pistol and Andrea gave it to him. Rick flipped the safety off and stated,

"Little red dot means it's ready to fire. You may have occasion to use it."

"Good to know."

responded the blonde as Rick gave her back the silver pistol. Rick walked away and stood a few feet away from the table where the girls were standing at. Reagan picked up a package of hair-ties and tossed the to Taylor. Taylor reached out and swiftly snatched it out of the air, opening it and sliding six of them on her wrist, leaving the other half for her sister. Taylor tossed them back and used her old, faded red one to pull her hair back into a ponytail, she hated her hair down. Reagan left her curly brown locks down, she loved her hair whereas Taylor hated hers. Taylor and Reagan looked over at Andrea who was smiling down at a necklace with a mermaid on it. It had sparkly orange hair and a red flower in her hair with a marble green and white polished tail. Taylor commented softly,

"That's pretty. You should get it."

Rick walked over to the girls and asked Andrea,

"See something you like?"

"Not me, I know someone who would. My sister. She's still such a kid in some ways. Unicorns, dragons, she's into all that stuff. But mermaids, they rule. She loves mermaids."

"Why not take it?"

asked Rick. Andrea rolled her eyes and turned to Rick, making him and the two sisters smile,

"There's a cop staring at me... Would it be considered looting?"

"I don't think those rules apply anymore. Do you? After all they're doin' it."

responded Rick as he spun around and raised his eyebrows at the sisters. They both laughed and their faces turned a scarlet red in embarrassment. Andrea sighed and placed the mermaid necklace in her front pocket carefully. They heard glass shatter and Rick and Andrea ran forward, pointing their pistols at the doors. They sighed in relief as they discovered that it was only the last part of the first layer being broken and saw that Morales, Jacqui, and Glenn were back. Rick questioned,

"What did you find down there?"

"Not a way out."

responded Morales as he ran over to the four of them. Out of the corner of her eye Taylor saw her older sister slip something silver into her pocket and became a little suspicious. Taylor stated,

"Well we need to find a way, and quick."

* * *

Everyone was up on the roof leaning on the small wall, watching where Rick was looking through his binoculars, searching for a vehicle or way to get out except for T-Dog who was sitting down and handcuffed Merle. Rick gave Morales the binoculars, reaching over Andrea and the sisters, and stated,

"That construction site, those trucks. They always keep keys on hand."

"You'll never make it past the walkers."

argued Morales. Rick stepped backwards so he could look Glenn in the eye and stated,

"You got me out of that tank."

"Yeah, but they were feeding. They were distracted."

replied Glenn. Rick asked,

"Can we distract them again?"

"Right. Listen to him. He's on to somethin'. A diversion, like on 'Hogan's Heros.'"

piped up Merle. Jacqui ordered,

"God. Give it a rest."

"They're drawn by sound, right?"

questioned Rick. Taylor added,

"And smell."

"Right, like dogs. They hear a sound, they come."

answered Glenn. Rick asked,

"What else?"

"Aside from they hear you and smell you? They see you, and if they catch you, they eat you."

replied Morales. Rick turned to Taylor and repeated,

"Wait, they can tell us by smell?"

"Can't you?"

asked Reagan. Andrea agreed,

"They smell dead, we don't. It's pretty distinct."

"I have an idea."

stated Rick.

* * *

Rick bent down and grabbed packages of red and blue rubber gloves, the others right behind him. Glenn stated,

"If bad ideas were an Olympic event, this would take the gold."

"He's right, and that's an understatement."

agreed Reagan as she took two pairs of gloves from Rick and handed one to Taylor. Taylor pulled them out of the plastic package and put on the red gloves, they were a bit big on her since she was only 12 1/2 while Reagan was 15 1/2. As Reagan finished pulling on her baby blue gloves the sisters watched Morales talk to Rick,

"Just stop, okay? Take some time to think this through."

"How much time? They already got through one set of doors, that glass won't hold forever."

asked Rick as he tossed two large sized rain jackets to Taylor and Reagan, everyone else already had theirs on. Taylor put hers on and buttoned it up, to her it looked like a lab coat since it was so big on her. Rick jogged over to the door and waved the others over. They didn't hear a groan on the other side of the door and Rick opened it and ran out into the alley, followed by Morales. They grabbed a body of a walker that T-Dog had killed earlier and dragged it back into the building before they were spotted by any walkers. Glenn shut the door behind them as they got inside. Rick and Morales dropped the body a few feet inside of the door and Rick grabbed a riot mask and put it on, leaving the shield up for a moment. Taylor watched as he sighed and flipped the shied down, covering his face after he sighed. He picked up a crowbar that was on the ground and slammed it against the glass that was covering an axe inside of a box on the wall that said, 'In case of fire, break glass'. Rick smashed enough glass so he could reach in and get the axe without stabbing himself with a jagged shard sticking out. Rick pulled out the axe and strode over to the body, he was alone on one side and the rest of them were on the other side, including T-Dog. Rick took a few steps back and held the axe, ready to chop the body into pieces and cover himself and Glenn in guts so they could get to the van at the construction site unnoticed by the walkers. Rick ran forward a few feet and Taylor, Reagan, and Glenn flinched away. Rick slid past the body instead of slicing it in half, making the three that flinched away turn around and stare at Rick in confusion. Rick pulled off the riot mask and set it on the ground along with the axe and his blue gloves. He knelt down next to the body and checked the walker's pockets and found a wallet. he opened it and read the his driver's license and looked through his things, occasionally glancing up at the group as he spoke,

"Wayne Dunlap. Georgia license. Born in 1979."

He handed Glenn Wayne's driver's license and continued,

"He had 28 dollars in his pocket when he died... And a picture of a pretty girl. 'With love, from Rachel.' He used to be like us, worrying about bills or the rent or the superbowl. If I ever find my family, I'm gonna tell them about Wayne."

With that, Rick put the man's wallet back in his pocket where he found it and stood up after he put his gloves and riot mask back on and grabbed the axe. Glenn said before Rick cut Wayne open,

"One more thing. He was an organ donor."

Rick waited for Glenn to finish his sentence then he brought down the axe and severed the body in half. Glenn grunted and Andrea cried out in disgust as she turned and refused to watch. Taylor put her hand to her nose at the sickening smell and turned away from the body and doubled over, putting her hands on her knees. She could hear the axe chopping through the body parts and guts and hitting the ground with a 'clang'. Everyone watched Rick in disgust besides Taylor, she refused to turn. Reagan groaned along with the others as Rick destroyed the body. Taylor heard Rick grunt and give Morales the axe and mask and order,

"Keep chopping."

Taylor turned around as she didn't hear any more chopping but she saw amputated arms and legs on the ground surrounded by blood and guts. She coughed and glanced over at Glenn, he was hunched over as well and moaning,

"Ugh. I am so gonna hurl,"

"Me too."

added Taylor as she retched, nothing came up since she hadn't eaten in two days, and she felt like she would never eat again since she saw the walker in front of her. Rick ordered to them,

"Later."

Taylor watched as Morales chopped the body and closed her eyes and groaned in disgust with Glenn. Now came the most disgusting part. Rick asked,

"Everybody got gloves? Don't get any on your skin or in your eyes."

Morales dropped the axe and mask and everyone, including Taylor, bent down and grabbed a handful of guts and blood. Taylor smeared her handful of guts on Glenn's jacket instead of Rick. Glenn moaned and complained as Taylor coughed from the smell,

"Oh god. Oh jeez. Oh, this is bad. This is really bad,"

"Think about somethin' else, puppies and kittens."

ordered Rick. T-Dog corrected as Glenn threw up,

"_Dead _puppies and kittens."

"This is just evil. What is wrong with you?"

asked Andrea as Taylor fell to her hands and knees and retched as she squeezed her eyes shut. Glenn said to T-Dog and Reagan between groans as they wrapped intestines around his neck,

"You _suck!_"

"Do we smell like them?"

asked Rick as he tried not to puke. Andrea answered as her nose wrinkled in disgust,

"Oh yeah. Definitely. Glenn."

Glenn turned to Andrea as she said his name. Andrea held out her gun and Glenn stood up straight as she said

"Just in case."

Andrea gingerly placed her pistol in the front of Glenn's pants, avoiding touching the guts. Rick commanded,

"If we make it back, be ready."

"What about Merle Dixon?"

asked T-Dog. Rick took off his glove and so did T-Dog. Rick tossed T-Dog the key and he caught it. Rick ordered,

"Give me the axe. We need, we need more guts."

Morales gave Rick the axe and he brought it down on the walker's chest. Reagan put her hand with the glove covered in guts on Taylor's back comfortingly as Andrea complained,

"Oh god!"

Taylor listened to the body being chopped up and Glenn complaining as guts were smeared all over him. Finally she heard the door open and shut and most of the smell went away with Glenn and Rick. Taylor got up on her knees and yanked her gloves off and threw them to the floor. She looked up and saw that everyone had already taken of their gloves and jacket. Taylor unbuttoned the white rain jacket and pulled it off and dropped it next to the gloves. Taylor grabbed Reagan's hand and her older sister hauled her off of the ground. Andrea suggested,

"We should go up to the roof. Make sure they're okay."

"That was disgusting,"

sighed Taylor as she jogged after the adults and her teenage sister. Reagan slowed so they'd be side by side and joked to Taylor as they dashed up the stairs,

"I thought it was funny, seeing you like that. On the ground and disgusted. I thought you were the toughest girl I ever met."

"Shut up."

ordered Taylor as she punched her sister in the arm playfully. As they burst through the door on the roof Merle shouted,

"Hey what's happening man!?"

"Hey, T-Dog, try that C.B."

ordered Morales, refusing to answer Merle's question. Merle demanded,

"Hey, Come on. Talk to me y'all!"

"Base camp, this is T-Dog. Anybody hear me? Can anybody out there hear me?"

asked T-Dog through the radio. Morales used his binoculars to try to find Glenn and Rick and when he did he pointed to the middle of the street directly in front of them and said,

"There."

Morales stood next to Andrea and the sisters were inbetween her and Jacqui as T-Dog sat on the ground trying to make the radio work. Thunder rumbled above them and Morales, Taylor, and Reagan looked up to see ominous black clouds above them. Merle shouted,

"That asshole is out on the street with the handcuff keys!?"

"Nope."

Taylor called over her shoulder. T-Dog held up the small silver keys and shook it with his fingers, taunting Merle. At the sight of T-Dog with the keys Merle's face fell and he glared at the man. A voice came through on the radio,

"Hello? Hello? Reception's bad on this end. Repeat. Repeat."

"Shane, is that you? We're in deep shit. We're trapped in a department store. There are geeks all over the place. Hundreds of 'em. We're surrounded."

asked T-Dog, everyone stared at him as he spoke to the group back at their camp. Taylor and Reagan exchanged glances, there really was people outside of the city. Rumbles of thunder came more frequently and louder with each time. Andrea and Morales passed the binoculars back and forth, keeping an eye on Rick and Glenn the whole time. Taylor felt a rain drop on her head, then another, and another, and another, until it was raining pretty well. Taylor squinted as she tried to find Glenn and Rick and when she did she stated,

"The rain is gonna wash it off, the smell, everything."

"Oh man."

replied Morales as he tore his eyes away from the men on the street to face the girl for a second. After only a few seconds it was pouring. Reagan's curly brown locks stuck to her face while Taylor's long bangs stuck to the sides of her face, she was smart to tie up her hair. Morales explained to the four women,

"It's just a cloudburst. We get 'em all the time. It'll pass real quick."

"Let's hope so."

responded Reagan as she pushed her wet hair out of her face. All of a sudden Rick and Glenn started running, followed by the herd of walkers behind them. Morales said quickly and urgently,

"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon!"

They watched as Rick and Glenn jumped over the chain link fence and pulled off their jackets. They heard gunshots, Rick was firing at the walkers. The walkers broke through the fence and the five of them on the roof watching saw a box truck that they were in drive off as the rain stopped. Andrea fretted,

"They're leaving us."

"What!? What!?"

asked Merle. Morales asked,

"Where they goin'? Where they goin'?"

"No, no, come back!"

begged Reagan as she held Taylor close. Glenn's voice came through on T-Dog's walkie talkie and what sounded like a car alarm went through as well,

"Those roll-up doors at the front of the store facing the street. Meet us there and be ready."

Everyone bent down and picked up their backpacks off of the ground as Morales shouted,

"Come on! Let's go, let's go!"

"Hey! You can't leave me here! I'm not foolin', man! Morales! Hey, man! Don't do this!"

yelled Merle. Taylor screamed back to T-Dog as she and everyone else but him and Merle ran down the stairs,

"T-Dog! Unlock him! Now!"

"Come on! Morales, Come on!"

bellowed Andrea as she hurried down the stairs. When they reached the bottom of the staircase and Morales was there they all ran to where the doors were, just as the walkers were almost done with breaking the last row of glass. Reagan pushed hre younger sister in front of her and ordered,

"Go, go, go!"

"Here I come! Don't leave me! Don't leave!"

shouted T-Dog from the stairs. Andrea shoved open a door and her and Jacqui grabbed on to the chain that would make the doors roll up. Reagan and Taylor dashed forward and grabbed the chain along with Morales. Morales ordered,

"Shh."

"What is that?"

asked Reagan. Taylor listened for a moment then stated,

"Car alarm."

They heard glass shatter in the other room and Andrea mumbled,

"Crap. C'mon, c'mon."

"Hey wait for me!"

yelled T-Dog as he shut the door to the room behind him. There were three bangs on the door and everyone pulled on the chain, trying to get the doors up as fast as possible. All of them tossed their bags to Rick who was standing in the back of a box truck waiting for them. Taylor ran and jumped inside, Rick helping her to her feet then running to the driver's seat. Reagan was next, then Andrea, Jacqui, Morales, and T-Dog. Morales shouted as he closed the door to the box truck,

"I'm in!"

Rick stepped on the gas pedal and the truck shot forward and down the road, back to their camp. Andrea, T-Dog and Jacqui sat on one side of the truck, Taylor was leaning her head on Reagan's shoulder on the opposite side while Morales got the passenger seat. T-Dog said to Taylor,

"I dropped the damn key."

"You didn't pick i-"

"Down a drain."

answered T-Dog. Andrea asked after a moment,

"Where's Glenn?"


	3. Settling In

"He's in the red car, you'll hear 'im."

stated Rick with a smirk. Taylor closed her eyes and rested her head on her sister's shoulder, her heart beat and breathing returning to its normal rate after a few moments. Morales told Rick,

"Best not to dwell on it. Merle got left behind. Nobody's gonna be sad that he didn't come back... except maybe Daryl."

"Daryl?"

Asked Rick and Taylor at the same time as they turned to face him. Morales answered,

"His brother."

"Crap,"

muttered Reagan softly. A car alarm approached the vehicle and everyone went silent. Taylor heard Glenn whooping in happiness and she smiled. He drove by in a cherry red Dodge Challenger and looked as elated as a kid in a candy store. Morales said,

"At least somebody's having a good day."

Rick grunted in response and they continued the drive in silence. Soon they were on a bumpy dirt road and Taylor peered up through the windshield from her sitting position and saw a rock quarry just off the road. Rick pulled up to a camp with cars at the entrance and several people waiting for their loved ones return. Morales put a hand on Taylor's shoulder, then Reagan's and ordered,

"Come meet everybody. You too Rick."

T-Dog opened up the sliding door at the back of the box truck and everyone climbed out. Taylor and Reagan stood side by side as Andrea ran forward and called out,

"Amy."

"Andrea! Oh my god! You scared the shit out of me."

cried a blonde girl in her mid 20's as she dashed forward to hug her sister. The two blondes embraced each other and Morales ran to his family, a young daughter and son, and his wife. Taylor and Reagan stayed by the entrance of the truck as Jacqui and T-Dog stepped forward to join the others, everyone was staring at Taylor and Reagan. Taylor and Reagan's eyes scanned over the group and stopped on a mother with big hazel doe eyes and dark brown hair kneeling down and whispering to her crying son. Taylor heard an old man laugh as he hugged Morales,

"You are a welcome sight. I thought we had lost you folks for sure,"

"Hey helicopter boy! Come say hello!"

shouted Morales to Rick. Rick stepped out of the car and Taylor saw a man with curly black hair and a necklace with the number 22 on it look at Rick, his face fell immediately. Taylor watched the boy her age turn and smile, his face lit up at the sight of Rick. Rick whispered in shock as he strode over to the boy,

"Oh my god."

"Dad! DAD!"

yelled the boy as he ran out of his mother's and into Rick's, his mom following him close behind. The two sisters stared at the reunited family in complete shock. Rick picked up the boy he had called 'Carl' and he cried tears of joy as he strode over to his wife and embraced her. After Rick, Carl, and his wife Lori stopped crying the old man in the blue fisherman's hat asked as he pointed to Taylor and Reagan,

"Who are they?"

"That's Taylor and her sister Reagan. Reagan's the brunette. They were in the department store we went in."

answered Morales with a smile. The man introduced the members of the group around him,

"I'm Dale. The man over there is Shane and Andrea's sister is Amy. This is Morales's daughter Eliza and son Louis and wife Miranda. This is Jim. Carol and Ed have a daughter your age named Sophia, she looks kinda like you."

Shane was the man who looked mad when he saw Rick and as each member of Morales's family was introduced they waved. Dale pointed to Taylor as he mentioned Sophia and Jim was a man wearing a hat and a blue jumpsuit while working on an RV. Andrea strode past Taylor and Reagan to grab her red backpack and Amy walked alongside her until she reached the sisters. As everyone went their separate ways and Andrea emerged from the box truck with her backpack her and Amy exchanged glances. Amy stated to the sisters as they stood there looking at her, unsure of what to do or where to go,

"If ya want you can stay with us, in the RV with Dale, he wouldn't mind."

"Thanks, we will."

replied Reagan with a small smile. Andrea strode over to the RV and said to Reagan and Taylor as she walked past and Amy joined her,

"Well, let's get you two settled in."

Taylor grabbed onto a strap of her backpack and followed Andrea into the Winnebago. Andrea pointed to two fold up couches on either side of a plastic table and stated,

"You can take those. They fold out into a bed, you two'll fit just fine. You can put your things underneath it for now."

"Thanks, for everything."

thanked Taylor as she slid her bag underneath one of the benches and faced the two blondes. Amy asked as Reagan sat on the other bench,

"How far apart are you two?"

"Just over three years She's 13 1/2 and I'm 15 1/2. What about you and Andrea?"

answered Reagan as she glanced over at her younger sister. Andrea simply responded as she tossed her bag onto a bed,

"12 years. I'm 36 and she's 24."

The two sets of sisters talked to each other and bonded in Dale's Winnebago until the sun set, Taylor talked to Amy and Reagan talked to Andrea. Just to mess with the older sisters Amy and Taylor would chat about how being the younger sister sucked for them, every time they did that Andrea and Reagan would shoot them dirty looks, making them laugh. Amy and Taylor also told funny stories about what happened to them before the apocalypse. Amy informed Taylor about all of the members in the camp, Ed was abusive to his daughter and wife, like Taylor's father was abusive to her when Reagan was gone from home. Taylor saw that the light outside of the window was fading but the orange glow of a campfire just outside the door was taking its place. Taylor suggested as she unzipped her backpack to grab her new gray jacket that matched her eyes,

"Let's go outside with the others."

"Good idea, wait for us."

agreed Amy as she dug through her bags to get her coat. Reagan grabbed her favorite purple hoodie from her backpack and pulled it over her head. Taylor hand her the brush they shared so she could get the tangles out of her dry hair as Andrea rummaged through the small closet for her coat. When all four girls had their jackets on to stay warm they walked down the stairs of the RV and sat around the campfire, there was a spot left open for them on a log. They sat down, Reagan next to Taylor and the blonde sisters next to each other, Taylor was also next to Amy. Everyone turned to them as they sat down, Shane, T-Dog, Glenn, Dale, and Rick's family, a girl was at a fire a few feet away with her mom and dad, Taylor guessed that it was Sophia's family. Crickets chirped all around them as Rick continued the conversation about him waking up from a coma in a hospital and learning that his wife and son were gone and the world had gone to shit,

"Disoriented. I guess that comes closest. Disoriented. Fear, confusion, all those things but... Disoriented comes closest."

Thunder rumbled overhead and Rick let Lori lean against him as he stroked Carl's long brown hair while his son was sitting in his lap. Dale stated as he pt his warm cup of tea on the ground in front of him,

"Words can be meager things. Sometimes they fall short."

"I felt like I'd been ripped out of my life and put somewhere else. For a while I thought I was trapped in some coma dream, something I might not wake up from, ever."

said Rick as he recalled the memory. Carl looked up at his father and stated in a small voice,

"Mom said you died."

"She had every reason to believe that. Don't you ever doubt it."

answered Rick as he exchanged a glance with his wife. Taylor noticed that Lori and Shane made eye contact a lot. Lori said in her soft voice as she looked Shane in the eye, hazel meeting a cold dark brown,

"When things started to get really bad, they told me at the hospital that they were going to medevac you and the other patients to Atlanta, and it never happened."

"Well, I'm not surprised after Atlanta fell."

admitted Rick. Amy leaned her head on her older sister's shoulder and Andrea leaned her head on Amy's agreed,

"Yeah."

"And from the look of that hospital, it got overrun."

said Rick. Shane piped up as he nodded his head at Lori and Carl,

"Yeah, looks don't deceive. I barely got them out, you know?"

"I can't tell you how grateful I am to you, Shane. I can't begin to express it."

stated Rick as he held his family closer to him. Dale used this as an example,

"There go those words fallin' short again. Paltry things."

Taylor heard a log hit another log and sparks fly into the air as Sophia's dad, Ed, placed another log in the fire, making it warmer. Both sets of sisters turned as Shane asked Ed as the man sat back down in his chair,

"Hey, Ed, you want to rethink that log?"

"It's cold, man."

complained Ed as he leaned his head back. Sophia and Taylor caught each others eyes for a brief second, then Sophia avoided looking at her father and stared into the fire in front of her instead. They did look alike, both had freckles across their face, dirty brown hair, but Sophia's was a little shorter and her eyes were a hazel with flecks of green instead of smoky grey. Shane questioned,

"The cold don't change the rules, does it? Keep our fires low, just embers so we can't be sen from a distance, right?"

"I said it's cold. You should mind your own business for once."

repeated Ed. Shane stood up and T-Dog thought about stopping him but he let Shane go over to Ed. Taylor muttered as Shane whispered to Ed in a venomous tone,

"Oh no,"

"Hey, Ed... Are you sure you want to have this conversation, man?"

"Go on. Pull the damn thing out. Go on!"

ordered Ed as he sat back in his chair. Taylor bolted up and stormed to the neighboring fire as Carol stood up slowly, avoiding her older sister's arm as she tried to grab her and stop her. Taylor looked Carol in the eye as she stood and silently told her to sit back down. Carol sat and Taylor grabbed the shovel that was on the ground, used it to pull out the log and turned her eyes to Ed. The man glared at her and Taylor set the shovel down and strode back over to her sister. Shane stomped on the wood, putting out the remaining flames as he muttered,

"Christ,"

"Why'd you do that?"

asked Reagan in Taylor's ear. Taylor responded softly,

"I didn't want Carol to do it. Amy told me he's abusive like dad."

Reagan didn't reply to her sister, she had seen the marks on Taylor's body where their father had hit her. Taylor listened to Shane as he asked Carol and Sophia,

"Hey, Carol, Sophia, how are y'all this evening?"

"Fine. We're just fine."

answered Carol in her sweet voice as she avoided her husband's gaze. Shane stood up and said,

"Okay."

"We're sorry about the fire."

apologized Carol for her husband's actions. Shane refused to let her apologize,

"No, no, no. No apology needed. Y'all have a good night, okay?"

"Thank you."

"I appreciate the cooperation."

said Shane sarcastically to Ed as he strode back to the group's fire and sat back down next to T-Dog while sighing. Dale asked, making Taylor groan,

"Have you given any thought to _Daryl_ _Dixon_? He won't be happy to hear his brother was left behind."

"I'll tell him. I dropped the key. It's on me."

stated T-Dog. Rick argued,

"I cuffed him. That makes it mine."

"Guys, it's not a competition,"

stated Reagan as she sighed, they were acting like children. Glenn apologized as he looked over at T-Dog,

"I don't mean to bring race into this, but it might sound better comin' from a white guy."

"I did what I did. Hell if I'm gonna hide from him."

stated T-Dog. Amy suggested,

"We could lie."

"Or tell the truth. Merle was out of control. Something had to be done or he'd have gotten us killed. Your husband did what was necessary. And if Merle got left behind, it is nobody's fault but Merle's."

disagreed Andrea as she looked at Lori. Dale asked,

"And that's what we _tell _Daryl? I don't see a rational discussion to be had from that, do you? Word to the wise-we're gonna have our hands full when he gets back from his hunt."

"_Great,_"

mumbled Taylor sarcastically. T-Dog stated,

"I was scared and I ran. I'm not ashamed of it."

"We were all scared. We all ran. What's your point?"

asked Andrea as she looked up at T-Dog. T-Dog explained,

"I stopped long enough to chain that door thanks to Taylor, she told me not to leave him. Staircase is narrow. Maybe half a dozen geeks can squeeze against it at any one time. It's not enough to break through that. Not that chain, not that padlock. My point, Dixon's alive and he's still up there, handcuffed on that roof. That's on us."

With that, T-Dog stood up and went to his tent. Taylor yawned and stood up and stated,

"I'm off to bed."

"Us too."

added Andrea as she and Amy stood and strode over to the RV, followed by Taylor and Reagan. Taylor and Reagan managed to unfold the couches using the light of the small lantern on the counter and when they did Andrea tossed them two blankets and each and extra pillow. Taylor called over to them as her and Reagan changed into some cozy clothes they used as pajamas and took off their shoes,

"Thanks."

"No problem,"

responded Amy, her voice was muffled by her pillow. Taylor and Reagan climbed on top of the bed and said goodnight to each other and drifted off to sleep. When Taylor's eyes fluttered open she saw her jeans and dark grey T-shirt folded nicely and on the edge of her bed, Reagan was gone and so were her clothes, Amy and Andrea were outside too. Taylor hurriedly put on her clean clothes and shoes and pulled her hair back. Taylor made sure her belt with her small knife on it was secure, then opened the door and stepped outside into the sun. Taylor shut the door behind her and squinted until her eyes got used to the light. She walked past Lori and greeted uneasily,

"Morning."

"Good morning."

she replied as she folded one of Carl's shirts and placed it in a duffel bag. Taylor didn't open up to people very well, only if her sister was around she would really get to know someone. Taylor saw Carol ironing clothes with a metal iron, placing it on hot coals then placing it on the clothes to get the wrinkles out. Carol said in her soft voice as Taylor approached her,

"Morning sweetie."

"Mornin'. You washed my clothes?"

asked Taylor in surprise. Carol answered,

"Best we could. Scrubbin' on an old washboard ain't half as good as my old Maytag back home."

"Thanks. Not having appliances sucks."

"Thank you for moving that log for me last night."

"You're welcome. You looked comfortable so I figured that I'd do it."

responded Taylor as she walked away from Carol, who was smiling at her. She spotted Reagan, Amy, and Andrea hanging up clothes on a clothesline and she strode towards them. She grabbed some jeans that were in a plastic bin and hung them up to dry. Reagan asked Taylor,

"Why aren't you playing with Sophia and Carl? They're your age and they were asking me if you could hang out with them earlier."

"I'll meet them later, after all these clothes are hung up."

stated Taylor. Reagan ordered,

"You work too hard, go have some fun. We'll take care of the rest of this. Go on, they're just inside of the treeline over there with Louis and Eliza."

"But I _suck _at being social with people."

argued Taylor. Reagan assured her,

"You'll be fine."

Taylor groaned softly, she thought Carl was kinda cute and she didn't want to embarrass herself in front of him. The four girls turned around as Shane sped up the road and parked his Jeep in the middle of camp and shouted as his car came to a halt,

"Water's here y'all! Just a reminder to boil before use!"

Amy, Andrea, Taylor, Glenn, and Reagan each grabbed a container with five gallons of water inside and carried it over to the fire in front of Shane's Jeep. When Taylor set the container of water down on the ground by the fire she gave in to her sister,

"Fine, I'll go play with Sophia and Carl."

Taylor walked in the direction where the rest of the kids were when she heard a girl scream in terror and heard Carl shout,

"MOM! DAD!"

"MAMA! MOMMY!"

cried out Sophia. Taylor pulled out her knife and ran into the trees, followed by everyone else. Carl ran out from the trees and into his mom's arms, Sophia, Eliza, and Louis did the same. Taylor stepped into a clearing and saw a dead deer on the ground with arrows in its side and a walker hunched over it, eating. _Daryl._ thought Taylor immediately. Taylor yelled to the others,

"Over here! In the clearing!"

As Amy and Andrea saw the walker they gasped and Reagan did too as she stood by them, not daring to get closer. Taylor raised her knife and snuck forward to the walker, about to kill it when Rick whispered,

"Don't!"

At the sound of Rick's voice the walker stood up and spun around, growling at them. Taylor stepped backwards as Rick ran forward and hit it across the chest with a pipe. Taylor backed away as the men kept hitting it with different weapons, baseball bats, pipes, butts of guns, and dale had and axe. With a shout Dale raised the axe above his head and brought it down on the walker's neck, decapitating it. All of the men backed away from the limp walker and Dale stated in disbelief as he rubbed his forehead under his tan fisherman hat,

"It's the first one we had up here. They never come this far up the mountain."

"Well, they're runnin' out of food in the city, that's what."

concluded Jim. A branch snapped behind Taylor, followed by footsteps, she spun around, her knife raised. Shane pushed past Glenn and raised his rifle where the footsteps were coming from. Taylor stated to them,

"It's Daryl, the arrows in the deer prove it."

A muscular man wearing a tan sleeveless shirt stepped out from behind a boulder, a crossbow in his hands. He had dirty brown hair and sapphire blue eyes. He was wearing olive green jeans with holes at the knees and had a red rag in his back pocket. He had an old string with squirrels tied on it on his shoulder. The man paused for a moment as Shane lowered his gun and took a few steps back as he muttered,

"Oh, Jesus, you were right."

"Told you so."

replied Taylor softly. The man stared at his destroyed deer then he scanned his eyes over the group that was watching him. His gaze stopped on Taylor and Reagan, eyes narrowing at the sight of two people he didn't know, then he glared back at what was left of his deer. He stepped around the bushes and into the clearing,

"Son of a bitch... That's _my_ deer! Look at it. All gnawed on by this..."

Everyone but Taylor walked away to the edge of the clearing as Daryl entered it. Daryl strode over to the deer and with every insult to the walker he kicked the walker's decapitated body as hard as he could,

"Filthy, disease-bearin', motherless, poxy, bastard!"

"Calm down, son. That's not helping."

stated Dale as he gawked at the man's behavior. Daryl stormed over to Dale and demanded as he got in his face,

"What do you know 'bout it old man? Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to 'On Golden Pond'?"

Daryl sighed and pulled his three arrows out of the deer, then pointed his nine-inch buck knife at the spot where the walker was eating from,

"I've been tracking this deer for miles. Gonna drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison. What do ya think? Do you think we can cut around this chewed up part right here?"

"I would not risk that."

stated Shane. Daryl responded after a sigh and lifted up his string of squirrels,

"That's a damn shame. I got some squirrel, 'bout a dozen or so. That'll have to do."

Suddenly a growl came from the decapitated head and its eyes shot open as it bit down on its teeth. Amy groaned,

"Oh god."

"That's disgusting."

agreed Reagan as Andrea pulled the two girls back to camp, leaving Taylor. Daryl aimed his crossbow at the head that sprang to life and pulled the trigger as he growled,

"C'mon people. What the hell?"

The arrow went in the walker's right eye, killing it. Daryl held the head down by the temple with the toe of his boot and pulled out his arrow. He backed away and stated,

"It's gotta be the brain. Don't y'all know nothin'?"

The man stalked back to camp with his arrow in his hand. Glenn muttered to Taylor as they followed him,

"Get ready for the rollercoaster. You ain't gonna enjoy the ride, trust me."


	4. Explaining

When Daryl and all of the men and Taylor that were following him got back to the campsite Daryl shouted as he went over to the large fire pit,

"Merle! Merle! Get your ugly ass out here! I got us some squirrel! Let's stew 'em up."

The man set his unloaded crossbow down by his fire pit, leaning it against the chopped wood, then looked up and scanned the area around him with his piercing blue eyes, searching for his brother. Daryl put one hand on his rope of squirrels and began to walk over to the RV where all of the women were, but he stopped for a moment as Shane ordered,

"Daryl, just slow up a bit. I need to talk to you."

"'Bout what?"

asked Daryl as he turned his body halfway to look at Shane who was walking past him, Shane stopped when he was in front of Daryl. Shane answered,

"'Bout Merle. There was a... there was a problem in Atlanta."

Reagan waved Taylor over to her and the two blonde sisters, not wanting her to get hurt if Daryl flipped out. Taylor jogged over to her sister and watched the scene unfold before her eyes from under the shade of the RV. Daryl looked over at everyone then paused for a moment before asking, thinking he already knew the answer,

"He dead?"

"We're not sure."

replied Shane. Daryl shouted in his southern accent as Rick approached him,

"He either is or he ain't!"

"No easy way to say this, so I'll just say it."

stated Rick as he looked at the ground before meeting Daryl's eyes. Daryl demanded,

"Who are you?"

"Rick Grimes."

"Rick _Grimes._ You got somethin' you wanna tell me?"

Daryl began to pace like a trapped animal again and everyone crowded around him, keeping the nearby weapons near them hidden behind them in case he decided to do something stupid. Out of the corner of her eye Taylor saw T-Dog approach the scene with a log in his arms. Rick explained briefly,

"Your brother was a danger to us all,so I handcuffed him on a roof, hooked him to a piece of metal. He's still there."

Daryl walked away from Rick and wiped away a few tears, hoping nobody saw them. He turned and pointed to his temple and ordered,

"Hold on. Let me process this. You sayin' you handcuffed my brother to a roof!? AND YOU LEFT HIM THERE!?"

"Yeah."

answered Rick after Daryl loud shouts. Daryl paced more and more, his face becoming a bright red in anger. Daryl threw his line of squirrels at Rick but Rick ducked and avoided getting hit by them. Daryl charged towards Rick but Shane ran past and pushed Daryl to the ground. T-Dog dropped the log and called out,

"Hey."

Daryl grunted as he hit the ground and he reached for his belt for his nine-inch knife. Daryl ripped his buck knife from its sheath and got to his knees as T-Dog ordered,

"Watch the knife!"

Daryl got to his feet and swung his deadly knife at Rick as he shouted, missing him by inches. Rick grabbed Daryl's arm with the knife in it and Daryl grunted as Shane jumped on him and put him in a headlock. Rick twisted Daryl's wrist and grabbed his knife, stowing it in his back pocket. Daryl thrashed around in Shane's firm grip and stated,

"You best let me go!"

"Nah, I think it's better if I don't."

disagreed Shane with a smile. As Shane dragged Daryl to the ground Daryl grunted,

"Choke hold's illegal,"

"You can file a complaint. Come on man. We'll keep this up all day."

said Shane sarcastically. Rick knelt down and asked Daryl,

"I'd like to have a calm discussion on this topic. Do you think we can manage that?"

Daryl didn't respond except for grunting as he tried to free himself of Shane's grip so Rick repeated,

"Do you think we can manage that?"

"Hmm?"

asked Shane. Daryl panted and Shane nodded to Rick. Shane stepped backwards and Daryl fell out of his grip, landing on his side. He sat up, holding himself up with his right arm and pointed at Shane, death threats shone in his eyes as he glared at the man who had held him immobile. Daryl got on his hands and knees, dirt all over his back, as Rick stated,

"What I did was not on a whim. Your brother does not work and play well with others."

"It's not Rick's fault. I had the key. I dropped it."

confessed T-Dog. Daryl looked up at him and asked angrily,

"You couldn't pick it up?!"

"Well, I dropped it in a drain."

Daryl scoffed and he hung his head as eyes filled with tears and he wiped them away before standing up. He growled,

"If it's supposed to make me feel better, it don't."

"Well, maybe this will. Look, thanks to her I chained the door to the roof, so the geeks couldn't get at him, with a padlock."

T-Dog pointed to Taylor and Daryl stared at the unfamiliar girl in confusion. Reagan spoke up,

"It's gotta count for somethin'."

"Who are you?"

demanded Daryl. Reagan pulled Taylor behind her and stated,

"I'm Reagan. This is Taylor."

"Hell with all y'all!"

shouted Daryl after wiping away more tears, he threw his arm out to them as he yelled. Daryl ordered,

"Just tell me where he is, so's I can go get 'im."

"He'll show you. Isn't that right?"

asked Lori, making everyone turn to her. Rick nodded while panting in the heat and stated,

"I'm goin' back."

Daryl strode away to his bow and sat down to clean his arrows. Taylor walked into the RV where Carl and Sophia were sitting on the couches, Reagan and Amy had put them back up. Taylor reached under the couch where Carl was sitting and grabbed her backpack. Carl greeted,

"Hi, we haven't met each other yet. I'm Carl. This is Sophia."

"Hey. I'm Taylor."

replied Taylor shyly. She noticed that Carl and Sophia were in the middle of a checkers game and Sophia was winning. Sophia scooted over on her side of the couch, making room for Taylor, and asked,

"Do you wanna play winner when we're done?"

"Sure."

agreed Taylor as she sat down next to Sophia. She dug through her backpack and pulled out her sketchpad and two sharpened pencils, her favorite thing to do was draw. She gazed around the room as she slid her backpack under the seat, wondering what to draw. A tree outside of the open door caught her eye and she began to sketch it on her paper. Taylor asked Carl and Sophia as she drew,

"Where'd you live before all this?"

"King County."

They answered in unison. Taylor brushed her bangs out of her eyes and turned to face them as she stated in shock,

"Me too. I went to KC Elementary. I had Mrs. Pettit for sixth grade."

"I had Mr. Lindholm."

replied Carl in shock, they had never met each other before this. Sophia added in her soft voice,

"I had Mrs. Rico."

"Cool! We all went to the same school."

exclaimed Carl with a smile. Taylor stated as she pointed the eraser of her pencil at him,

"True, but we never met each other in person."

"Yeah, that's weird."

agreed Sophia as she took one of Carl's checkers with a grin. The kids all turned and looked out of the door as they heard Shane demand to Rick,

"Why would you risk your life for a douche bag like Merle Dixon?!"

"Hey. choose your words more carefully."

ordered Daryl as he pointed his four arrows at Shane. Shane responded,

"No, I did. Douche bag's what I meant."

The three kids exchanged glances and all smiled at Shane's response to Daryl. Taylor looked over and saw Rick talking to Lori, she said to Carl,

"Hey, I think your dad is leavin' now."

"C'mon Sophia,"

sighed Carl as he stood up. The three kids strode out of the RV and Rick approached his son. Rick stated as he knelt in front of Carl,

"I'm goin'. I'll be back soon. I promise. Take care of mom and the women."

"I will."

promised Carl and his dad hugged him goodbye. Rick strode over to Dale and Jim with T-Dog to talk to them as they were working on the RV. The three kids jumped in surprise as someone honked a horn. They looked over to where the sound was coming from, it was Daryl. He was honking the horn with his boot, Glenn was sitting in the driver's seat and leaning away from him, Taylor didn't blame him. Daryl shouted to T-Dog and Rick,

"C'mon! Let's go!"

Rick and T-Dog hopped in the van, shut the roll up doors, and drove down the road with everyone watching. Taylor turned around and saw Jacqui gutting a squirrel on a tree stump next to the fire. Carl stated,

"I'm gonna go lay down. I'm tired. We can finish the game later."

"Okay. Bye."

agreed Sophia. Taylor watched him walk over to his tent and called out,

"See ya later!"

Sophia strode over to the fire and talked with Eliza as she played with her doll. Taylor sighed and went back into the RV to fetch her sketchbook. She grabbed it and her pencil and returned back outside. She sat down next ton her sister who was helping Amy, Andrea, Lori, and Jacqui gut and stew the squirrels. Taylor finished drawing the tree when her older sister stood up, brushed the dirt off of her pants, and grabbed a bin of dirty clothes. Taylor set her sketchbook on a plastic table outside of Dale's RV and strode back over to her sister. She was holding a bin of clothes and an empty crate and was walking down to the quarry with Carol and Amy to wash clothes. Taylor watched them walk away and she called up to Dale who was on watch on top of the RV,

"Hey Dale! Where's Carl?"

"Shane took him down to the quarry just a couple minutes ago. They were talking about catching frogs. They're still walking down the trail. Best hurry before they leave you behind."

answered Dale as he smiled down at the young girl. Taylor replied,

"Thanks! See you later!"

"Anytime!"

shouted Dale as Taylor ran down the dirt and gravel trail to catch up with Shane and Carl. When Taylor finally caught up with Shane and Carl she walked next to them and asked Shane,

"Can I help you and Carl catch frogs?"

"Yeah. Shane said that there's a lot down there and it's gonna be fun."

answered Carl with a wide grin. Shane agreed as well,

"The more helpers the better, and the more frogs. You can use my net."

Shane held out hit net and kept his iron bucket, Carl had a net identical to Taylor's. When they reached the quarry with the lake in the middle Shane led the two kids to the opposite side of the pond to where the women were washing the clothes. Shane ordered as he squatted on the bank with his bucket on his knee,

"Stand here and use your nets to get them right off of the bank."

Taylor and Carl obeyed, they stood side by side and swept the mud on the bottom of the lake around them with their nets and got nothing. Carl stated, his voice full of disappointment,

"I'm not gettin' anything."

"Me neither."

added Taylor, her voice just as glum as Carl's. Shane replied,

"Yeah. Bein' all wily, staying submerged. Little suckers, they know somethin's up. That's what's goin' on."

Taylor and Carl turned towards Shane as he sighed and waded in the water with his bucket and stated,

"Just gonna have to do this the old-fashioned way. All right, little guys, look. You are the, you are they key in all this, okay?"

Carl and Taylor nodded in understanding. Shane described their grand plan,

"All I'm gonna do is I'm gonna go after one of them, all right, scare the rest of them off. They're all gonna scatter and I'm gonna drive 'em your way."

"Alright."

The two children agreed in unison. Shane asked,

"What you need to do is you need to round up every bad boy you see, all right? Are you two with me?"

"Yeah."

"Hells yeah. Give me your mean face."

Shane growled and showed his teeth in what he thought looked like a menacing growl to the frogs. Carl growled but Taylor only raised her eyebrows at them. Carl said as he growled at Taylor,

"C'mon Taylor. Growl."

Shane joined him in growling and Taylor laughed and gave in. She growled back at them with the same odd face and they all laughed. Shane asked,

"Good job. Are y'all ready?"

"Yeah!"

they shouted back. Shane got his bucket ready and asked,

"Are you ready? Here we go guys. "

He paused and gripped his bucket tighter as Taylor and Carl looked at him expectantly. Shane fell into the water and began splashing and thrashing around dramatically, getting Taylor and Carl a little wet. Shane splashed water in the kids' direction and they started laughing as they searched for frogs with their net. Shane began to shout,

"All right, little guys, they're comin' your way. They're comin' you way! Go on, get 'em, get 'em! They're comin' your way, come on! Catch them frogs! Catch them frogs! They're comin', guys! Get 'em! Get those nets in there and get 'em! Have some more! They're comin', little guys! Get 'em! C'mon! Get those nets in there and get 'em!"

The kids raised their nets out of the water and Shane frantically asked,

"What do y'all have? What do ya got? What do you got?"

"Dirt,"

sighed Taylor as she let her arm fall to her side with her net. Shane replied with a smile,

"Oh boy. All right, we've got to start over. Come on, let's find this bucket."

Shane reached down to grab that bucket he had dropped in the middle of his chaotic splashing. Carl laughed at him as he grabbed onto the bucket and kept dropping it. Taylor smiled at him, he was enjoying entertaining them. Taylor set her net down next to Carl and stretched her arms across her chest and stated,

"I'm exhausted. I'm gonna go rest by Reagan. Good luck on catching the frogs."

"Aww. Come on Taylor, just on more time? One more? Please?"

begged Carl. Taylor replied with a smile,

"I don't scare those frogs with my 'mean' face, and you do. Maybe later."

"Okay."

agreed Carl as he turned to Shane as he began splashing and yelling again. When Taylor reached the women washing the clothes they were all laughing. Taylor smiled and she stood behind her sister and they all spun around to face Ed as he demanded while approaching them with a cigarette dangling from his lips,

"What's so funny?"

"Just swappin' war stories, Ed... Yeah."

answered Andrea with a smile. Taylor noticed that Carol turned back to her laundry and that her face fell as her husband strode towards them. As Ed strode closer Taylor sat next to Reagan and helped scrub a shirt with a brush. Ed watched them work and Andrea was tired of him watching her work over her shoulder so she turned her head and asked him,

"Problem, Ed?"

"Nothin' that concerns you."

answered Ed. Taylor glanced over at him in fear, her father was abusive to her and another abusive man was just a couple feet from her. Reagan looked down at her younger sister and saw that her eyes were an electric blue from fear she whispered so Ed wouldn't hear,

"Don't worry. He won't hurt you."

"What about Carol? And Sophia?"

Taylor whispered back as she gazed up at her older sister. Reagan didn't respond to that. Ed added as he pointed to Carol,

"And you ought to focus on your work. This ain't no comedy club."

At her husband's orders, Carol started scrubbing the jeans she was washing harder. Taylor glanced up and saw Carl walking back to camp while Lori was fighting with Shane. Taylor sighed and thought, _Shane was only playing with us._ Ed came up behind her as he heard her sigh and asked,

"You have a problem, girl?"

Taylor's body went rigid at the sound of his venomous voice behind her. She stopped working and her hands trembled in fear as she thought he was going to hit her. Reagan put a damp shirt on Taylor's hand so Ed wouldn't see them shaking and answered for Taylor,

"No. She doesn't have a problem, Ed."

"Making sure,"

grumbled Ed as he stepped away from Taylor and lit another cigarette. Reagan pulled the shirt off of Taylor's hands and whispered in her ear as she put a hand on her sister's back,

"It's okay. He's away now. He won't hurt you I swear."

Amy looked over at Taylor, still paralyzed with fear, and waved her hand in front of her face, trying to get her to snap out of it. Taylor blinked twice and shuddered as she returned to scrubbing the shirt, her eyes were still bright blue. Reagan mumbled in relief,

"Thank god."

Andrea watched Taylor for a few moments after she returned to normal, making sure nothing else happened to the girl. Andrea glanced back at Ed and stood up, Ed's wet blue shirt in her hands. She called over to the man,

"Ed, I'll tell you what. You don't like how your laundry's done, you are welcome to pitch in and do it yourself. Here."

Andrea tossed the wet shirt to Ed, trying to hide a grin. Ed threw it back at her and hit Andrea in the face, causing her to grunt in surprise. Ed stated as all of the women stood up besides Carol,

"Ain't my job missy."

"Andrea, don't"

begged Amy. Andrea ignored her little sister,

"What is your job, Ed? Sitting on your ass smoking cigarettes?"

"Well, it sure as hell ain't listenin' to some uppity smart-mouthed bitch. Tell you what. Come on. Let's go."

retorted Ed as he motioned for Carol to go over to him. Taylor stood in front of Carol protectively so Ed wouldn't hit his wife. Andrea said,

"I don't think she needs to go anywhere with you, Ed."

"I say it's none of your business. Come on now. You heard me."

replied Ed. Carol pushed her way past Taylor gently, not wanting to hurt her and Amy and Andrea, along with Reagan tried to stop her. Andrea said,

"Carol."

"Andrea, please. It doesn't matter."

stated Carol, she was lying as tears came to her eyes. Ed asked Andrea,

"Hey. Don't think I won't knock you on your ass just 'cause you're some college-educated cooze, alright?"

Andrea gasped. Ed stated to Carol,

"Now, you come on now or you gonna regret it later."

"So she can show up with fresh bruises later, Ed? Yeah, we've seen them."

asked Jacqui in an annoyed tone. Ed laughed and ordered,

"Stay out of this. Now come on! Ya know what? This ain't none of y'all's business. You don't want to keep prodding the bull here, okay? Now I am _done talking._ Come on."

Ed grabbed Carol by the arm and began to pull her back to camp but the women were tenacious. Amy, Andrea, and Reagan grabbed Carol's arms and tried to free her from Ed's strong grip. Andrea said to Carol,

"No, no. Carol, you don't have-"

"Carol don't."

begged Reagan as she held onto Carol. Carol muttered something intelligible to the women. Ed shouted,

"You don't tell me what! I tell you what!"

All of the women began to yell at Ed but Carol. Taylor shouted at him, her anger boiling over,

"Don't tell her what to do! She can speak for herself!"

Ed punched Taylor in the face as hard as he could and she fell into Reagan's arms from the impact. Taylor clutched her face and Ed slapped Carol too, and Amy pulled the woman away from her husband. Carol clutched her face, she had a split lip, and Taylor had that and a bloody nose along with, what would soon become a black eye. Ed and Andrea and Jacqui started yelling at each other. Amy tried to pull Carol away from Ed and she shouted when he didn't let go,

"Get off her!"

At the sight of Taylor getting hit Shane ran over to Ed and grabbed him by his wrist and the back of his shirt. Shane threw Ed to the ground and Carol protested,

"Ed? No!"

"It's okay. It's okay."

Comforted Amy. Shane repeatedly punched Ed in the face, he got his own bloody nose and split lip along with a black eye and bruises to last him awhile. Carol cried to her husband, apologizing about Shane even though she shouldn't. All of the women yelled to Shane, begging him to stop while Taylor was being held up by Reagan. Shane threatened,

"You put your hands on your wife, your little girl, or anybody else in this camp one more time, I will not stop next time. Do you hear me? Do you hear me?!

"Yes."

Slurred Ed, coughing up blood. Shane stated,

"I'll beat you to death, Ed."

Shane punched Ed twice and stepped away from him after kicking him in the ribs once. Carol broke free of Andrea's grip and stumbled over to her husband, leaning over him and apologizing over and over about Shane. Shane strode over to Taylor who was now curled into a ball shaking. She was covering her face and had her shoulders hunched forward to try and protect her from being hit again. Reagan was kneeling over her sister when Shane walked over, picked her up bridal style, and offered as he was already walking back to camp with Reagan,

"I'll take her back for you."


	5. Holes

When Shane, Reagan, and trembling Taylor ran back into camp Dale asked from on top of the RV, his voice full of worry,

"What happened? Is she okay?"

Reagan and Shane exchanged glances and Shane answered,

"Ed hit her, but she'll be alright. It's taken care of, don't you worry."

"We're just gonna put her in the RV to rest."

added Reagan as she looked down at her sister in Shane's arms, she hadn't stopped trembling in fear and hadn't uncurled herself from her tight ball yet. Dale stated,

"You can put her on my bed, you two can sleep there. I feel guilty having a bed for myself and having two kids on a couch."

"Thanks."

replied Reagan as she disappeared into the Winnebago after Shane. Shane carried Taylor over to Dale's bed which was now hers, and gently lied her down on her side. Shane asked Reagan as he knelt in front of the 12 year old,

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Not that I can think of. She'll have to come out of it herself I think."

answered Reagan uneasily. Shane stood and said to Reagan as he strode past her and back outside,

"Good luck. Let me know if you two need anything."

Reagan mumbled in response and sat on the ground in front of her sister cross-legged, they were eye level now. Reagan slowly and gently pulled Taylor's hands away from her face and Taylor cooperated. As soon as her face was revealed Taylor squeezed her eyes shut, her eye was already bruising and blood was covering her face under her nose and her lip was split and still bleeding. Reagan whispered as she saw her sister's face,

"Oh my god..."

Reagan stood up and walked over to the sink to get a rag. She turned on the cold water and held the turquoise rag underneath the running water, soaking it. She then proceeded to turn off the faucet and wring out the rag so a little moisture remained in it. Reagan knelt in front of her sister and wiped the blood off of Taylor's face carefully, not wanting to make her already sore face even worse. When all of the blood was washed off of Taylor's face Reagan shook her shoulder and promised,

"Taylor? He's gone. He won't hurt you again, I promise. Please, come back."

Taylor kept her eyes closed and didn't respond to her sister. Reagan sighed and reached in her back pocket for one of the necklaces that she had slipped into her pocket back at the department store. She held it in one hand and stared at the silver angel wing dangling from the chain. She pulled out the other necklace, identical to the other one but it was the left angel wing instead of the right side, which she was going to give to Taylor. Reagan put her necklace on and then delicately placed Taylor's around her neck. It was silent in the RV for thirty minutes, Reagan kneeling in front of her little sister, waiting for her to awaken. Reagan spun around in surprise as she heard two sets of footsteps behind her, it was Carol and Carl. Carol had gotten herself cleaned up as well and the two of them were staring past Reagan and at Taylor. Carol apologized as she looked at the ground,

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay."

mumbled Reagan tossed the wet rag into the sink from her sitting position. Carl gawked at Taylor and strode over to her, Reagan stood and sat on the counter of the RV, swinging her legs back and forth as she watched Carl and Taylor. Carol sat on a couch and watched the children as well. Carl gasped and knelt in front of his new friend, taking in her bloody lip and nose and her black eye. Carl put his hand on the bed, accidentally placing it on Taylor's, making her body tense up. Carl whispered in shock,

"Taylor... it's me, Carl. Wake up."

At the sound of Carl's devastated voice Taylor's body loosened up slowly and she stopped shaking. After a few minutes Taylor's eyes fluttered open, making Carl's face light up. Reagan and Carol smiled as the girl's eyes opened, they were back to the misty grey. When Taylor opened her eyes all she saw was Carl's face. She smiled at the sight of him and he smiled back as she managed to sit up. Taylor gazed into Carl's eyes, loosing herself in the deep blue pools. She blinked twice and blushed softly as she saw Reagan sitting on the counter of the RV making a heart with her hands. Taylor glared at her sister, only making her grin and chuckle. Taylor got to her feet slowly and suggested with a smile,

"Let's go outside."

"Okay."

agreed Carl as he strode to the door. Reagan ordered to Carl and Carol as she put a hand in front of Taylor,

"You two go ahead, we'll be out in a few minutes."

"What?"

demanded Taylor with a groan after Carol and Carl were out of earshot. Reagan sighed then stated as she pointed to Taylor's bruised and swollen face,

"We need to cover that up. I don't want the others to ask questions and I bet you think so too."

"How are we gonna do that? Ain't no makeup 'round here."

asked the blonde sister as she hooked her hand on her cocked hip. Reagan smiled and ordered,

"Sit here. I'll get the stuff."

Taylor obeyed her sister and sat on the edge of the bed as Reagan dug through het bags and Taylor's. She sat next to Taylor and set a baby blue hat and their brush in front of her on the mattress. Reagan reached behind Taylor and easily pulled out her ponytail.

"Hey!"

called out Taylor in surprise. Reagan told Taylor her plan as she brushed Taylor's hair so it was covering part of her face,

"We need your hair down, brushed, and parted so it's covering your left eye, most of the bruises, and part of your lip. The hat is for you to shade your eyes, making the black eye blend in with the shadow in case your bangs don't completely hide it. Also if you try to flip your bangs out of your face the hat will prevent you from doing that. Okay, you with me?"

"Yeah. Good plan,"

sighed Taylor as she glared at her bangs that covered most of her left eye. She strode into the bathroom and observed herself in the mirror that hung above the sink. Taylor groaned,

"I look like an idiot."

"Deal with it. Let's go outside, Carl's waiting for ya."

teased Reagan, she was enjoying making her younger sister annoyed and frustrated. Taylor stormed out of the small bathroom and demanded angrily,

"Why do you make fun of me because of him!? We're not dating or anything!"

"Really now. I think _yet _is the key word. I've seen the way you look at him. After all, that's what older siblings are for."

joked Reagan with a cocky smile dancing on her sighed in frustration and pushed past her sister, stepping out of the RV and spotting Carl on a log by the fire and Sophia sitting on the ground talking to Eliza. Taylor strode over to Carl and sat next to him, Lori was sitting a few feet away from them. After Carl took in what Taylor was wearing he questioned her in a hushed voice,

"Why are you wearing that? And why is your hair down? Reagan told me you hated it down."

"Don't. Question. My. Doing."

growled Taylor, making every word a sentence and causing Carl to shrink away from her a little bit. He wasn't going to give up that easily just yet. Carl gazed up at Taylor through his short bangs, he was giving her big puppy dog eyes, begging her for an actual answer. Taylor sighed and gave in to her friend, speaking in a low whisper,

"It's to cover my face so the others don't ask about it."

"Oh."

replied Carl as he stared at the ground, he felt bad for her. He glanced over at his mom as Taylor heard a familiar voice behind her say with a grin clearly heard in her voice,

"Looks like the _asking _part ain't workin' that well for ya lil' sis."

Taylor grumbled something intelligible in response, Reagan was on her last nerve. She really wanted to bang her head on something hard, a rock, a tree, a wall, anything. Anything to make her sister stop irritating her in absolutely every way possible. She felt a small hand on her shoulder and she turned to see who it was, it was Carl. She faced the boy and followed where his finger was pointing. He was pointing at Andrea and Amy who were walking into camp, approaching them with large smiles on their faces. Andrea had a bait box in her hand and Amy had a fishing pole in hers. They had easily over twenty fish hooked on a foot of chain. Morales laughed as he spotted the two blonde sisters heading their way,

"Oh, baby. Will you look at that? Hey check it out."

Andrea strode over to Morales and gave him the two strips of chain with lots of fish on each of them. Lori clapped at all of the fish that the two of them had caught but kept a straight face as Carol kept sewing a torn part of a shirt in her hands. Morales thanked them,

"Ladies... because of you my children will eat tonight. Thank you."

"Thank Dale. It's his canoe and gear."

responded Andrea with a grin. Amy took a sip from her water bottle as Andrea high-fived Jacqui, picking up her canteen in the process. Carl ordered to Lori in awe as he stood up and gawked at all of the fish,

"Mom, look. Look at all the fish."

"Thank you."

replied Lori sarcastically as she leaned away from the scaly fish when Morales held them out to her. She chuckled and Taylor smiled up at Carl, entertained by his reaction to all of the fish that Andrea and Amy had caught. Carl poked a fish and commented,

"Whoa."

"Yeah, whoa. Where did you two learn to do that?"

agreed Lori in surprise. Amy replied simply,

"Our dad."

"Can you teach me how to do that? And Taylor?"

asked Carl as he looked over at Amy. Amy answered in her kind voice with a grin on her face, turning to face Andrea as she mentioned knots,

"Sure. I'll teach you all about nail knots and stuff. If that's okay."

"You won't catch me arguing."

stated Lori, answering the woman's question. Taylor stood next to Reagan as Andrea saw Dale approach them and asked him something about the reels. Dale didn't answer Andrea's question and instead stated,

"I, uh- I don't want to alarm anyone but we may have a bit of a problem."

Shane joined them as Dale pointed to the bushes on top of a small hill. They all followed his gaze to see Jim shoveling dirt from the waist up, the bushes were blocking the area where he was digging.

* * *

Dale led them all to the place on top of the hill where Jim was digging the holes for some reason. They all followed him in a line, first Shane, then Morales, Amy, Andrea, Reagan, Taylor, Lori and Carl, and Carol and Sophia. They all watched as Jim broke up the dirt in front of him with his shovel forcibly. When some dirt clods were broken up Jim proceeded to shovel them out of the small hole. He had already dug a least a dozen holes. Shane tried to catch his attention,

"Hey, Jim."

Jim didn't acknowledge Shane and instead kept working on his hole, not even bothering to glance up at the others around him. Taylor, the rest of the kids, and Lori and Carol stood in the shade of a nearby pine tree and Reagan bent down a little to look Taylor in the eye and shifted her dirty blonde bangs so they were covering half of her face then stood beside her. Lori, Morales, and Sophia stared at the two in confusion, they hadn't been told the news yet along with Jim but he was focused on his hole. Shane tried to get his attention again,

"Jim, why don't you hold up, alright? Just give me a second here."

"What do you want?"

demanded Jim after a sigh. He stopped digging and leaned on the handle of his shovel, waiting for Shane's response. Shane ,

"We're all just a little concerned, that's all."

"Dale says you've been out here for hours."

briefly explained Morales. Jim asked him,

"So?"

"So why are ya diggin'? Are you headin' to China, Jim?"

asked Shane with a laugh. Jim smiled at the friendly joke and replied as he continued to dig,

"What does it matter? I'm not hurtin' anyone."

"Yeah, except maybe yourself. It's 100 degrees today. You can't keep this up."

stated Dale as he stepped forward. Jim challenged him,

"Sure I can. Watch me."

"Jim, they're not gonna say it so I will. You're scaring people. You're scaring my son, Carol's daughter, and Reagan's sister."

imputed Lori as she strode forward to face the man. Carl and Sophia were at Carol's sides and Taylor stepped next to Sophia with Reagan on her other side. Jim argued, causing Shane and Lori to exchange glances,

"They got nothin' to be scared of... I mean, what the hell, people? I'm out here by myself. Why don't y'all just go and leave me the hell alone?"

"We think that you need to take a break, okay? Why don't you go and get yourself in the shade? Some food maybe. I'll tell you what, maybe in a little bit I'll come out here. I'll help you myself. Jim, just tell me what it's about. Why don't you just go ahead and give me that shovel?"

offered Shane kindly. Jim forced the blade of the shovel in the dirt for a moment and asked as he leaned against it,

"Or what?"

"There is no or what. I'm asking you. I'm coming to you and I'm asking you, please. I don't want to have it taken from you."

stated Shane, trying to keep the situation calm. Jim asked as he panted like a dog in the heat,

"And if I don't, then what? Then you're gonna beat my face in like Ed Peletier, aren't you? Y'all seen his face, huh?! What's left of it! See, now that's what happens when someone crosses you."

"That was different, Jim."

stated Reagan as Taylor pressed her side into her sister's side. Jim began to dig again when Amy defended Shane,

"You weren't there. Ed was out of control. He was hurting his wife-"

"That is their marriage! That is not his!"

argued Jim. Sophia dug her face into her mom's chest as she clung onto Carol. Amy shouted,

"He hit Taylor! She was knocked unconscious for almost an hour, Jim! She doesn't have someone like a father to protect her! Shane took that role as a father. He intervened so she wouldn't get hurt more."

Everyone gawked at Taylor, who now hung her head, just then a strong breeze came by and her hat fell off. She looked up and reached out to grab it but Shane had caught it. Another small breeze passed over the hill, making Taylor's bangs blow away from her face, revealing her black eye, swollen face, and cut lip. She snatched her hat back from Shane and hid her face in Reagan's chest. She knew that there was no point to put the hat back on and fix her bangs because they knew and had already seen her face. Amy quietly said, making Jim angry again somehow,

"See."

"She is not his responsibility. He is not judge and jury. Who voted you king boss, huh?"

asked Jim, glaring at Shane. Shane stayed calm and asked as he stepped forward and reached out for the shovel in Jim's hands,

"Jim, I'm not here to argue with you, alright? Just give me the shovel, okay?"

"No no no."

answered Jim as he held the shovel out of Shane's reach. Shane asked Jim again but Jim shoved Shane away from him, making Shane stumble backwards a few feet. Shane grunted in surprise and ducked down as Jim swung the shovel, meaning to hit Shane in the head but he missed when Shane ducked down. Taylor listened to Shane as he tackled Jim down and tried to calm him down as he yelled and thrashed around in protest. Taylor asked Reagan as the men fought, her voice was muffled by Reagan's shirt,

"Can we go now?"

"Yeah. C'mon."

answered Reagan, she took a few steps away from her sister and Taylor followed Reagan back down the hill and to the RV. Taylor strode into the RV and threw the hat on Reagan's side of the bed and muttered,

"Stupid plan didn't work."

Taylor leaned her head against the wall and sighed as she flipped her hair by shaking her head, making her bangs get out of her face. Taylor spotted a small bookshelf and she began to browse through the books, trying to find one that interested her. She decided to pick out Holes by Louis Sachar. She had already read it but she loved the book so she might as well read it again. When Taylor finished chapter four she took the book outside with her and she saw Carol, Lori, Carl, and Sophia sitting around a wood table, Jim was tied to a tree with rope a few feet away. Taylor sat next to Sophia, she was practicing her math facts along with Carl. She opened her book and began to read again, ignoring the looks she got from Lori when she stared at her face. The five at the table turned to face Jim as he apologized,

"Sorry if I scared your boy and your little girls."

"You had sunstroke. Nobody's blaming you."

responded Lori. Jim asked the children,

"You're not scared now, are ya?"

"No sir."

answered Sophia softly. Carl shook his head no and Taylor laid on her back and continued reading as she answered carelessly,

"Nope."

Taylor zoned out Jim asking Carl questions and got back to the book in her hands. Taylor heard Shane ask after a few minutes,

"Alright. Who wants to help me clean some fish, huh?"

"Sweet! Come on, Sophia. Let's go, Taylor."

answered Carl with a grin on his face. Taylor marked her place with a leaf that was beside and Carl helped her to her feet and the three children, Lori, Carol, and Reagan close behind, ran off to gut and clean the fish to make fish fry for dinner.

* * *

Everyone was sitting around the campfire laughing and talking with each other besides Ed, who was in his tent, and the others that went off to go find Merle and the other survivors that Taylor and Reagan haven't met yet. Taylor had a plate full of fish and she was eating it ravenously, shoveling it in her mouth, Reagan watching her eat with a grin. Reagan joked,

"I thought you said that you'd never eat again after the walker incident."

"I take that back."

stated Taylor, pointing her fork at her sister. Everyone was sitting in their normal spots, the two sets of sisters on a log, Amy and Taylor next to each other, Dale in his chair, Shane on a rock, and Morales and his family took the spot where Glenn, T-Dog, and Rick had sat. Morales pointed to Dale as he winded the gold watch on his wrist then rested his head on his hand,

"I've got to ask you, man. It's been driving me crazy."

"What?"

"That watch."

Dale smiled and looked down at his watch then back up at Morales. He smiled at Morales and asked with a grin, trying to sound a little offended but failed to,

"What's wrong with my watch?"

"I see you every day, the same time, winding that thing like a village priest saying mass."

Taylor, Amy, Reagan, and Andrea nodded in agreement. Now that they thought about it they had seen Dale wind his watch a lot. Jacqui stated with a smile,

"I've wondered this myself."

"I'm missing the point."

stated Dale in confusion. Jacqui explained to him,

"Unless I've misread the signs, the world seems to have come to an end. At least hit a speed bump for a long good while."

"But there's you every day winding that stupid watch."

added Morales. Taylor giggled at Morales's comment, it was true. Dale asked,

"Time-it's important to keep track, isn't it? The days at least. Don't you think Andrea? Back me up here."

Andrea stared at the man with wide eyes and didn't respond to his question and instead acted like she had no idea what he was talking about. Andrea chuckled and took a sip of beer from the bottle in her hands instead. Dale rambled on,

"I like, I like what um, a father said to son when he gave him a watch that had been handed down through generations. He said, 'I give you the mausoleum of all hope and desire, which will fit your individual needs no better than it did mine or my father's before me; I give it to you not that you may remember time, but that you may forget it for a moment. Now and then and not spend all of your breath trying to conquer it.'"

"You are so weird."

commented Amy with a grin, causing everyone to laugh. Dale defended himself,

"It's not me. It's Faulkner. William Faulkner. maybe my bad paraphrasing."

"I have absolutely no clue what you just said. At all,"

sighed Taylor with her eyebrows raised, causing them to laugh again, but it was true. Andrea stood up and stepped towards the RV when Andrea asked her,

"Where are you going?"

"I have to pee. Jeez, you try to be discreet around here."

Everyone giggled at Amy and Taylor and Carl laughed until it hurt to laugh anymore. Taylor heard the door open to the RV and Amy ask,

"We're out of toilet paper?"

No one turned to her and kept eating until Amy screamed in terror. Andrea, Taylor, and Reagan spun around to see a walker biting Amy's forearm. They all shouted,

"AMY!"

walkers emerged from the bushes and trees around them as well. They were under attack.


	6. Attacked

**Just so ya know, my other story is on a hiatus right now since it's difficult for me to write while this story is a lot easier to write. I don't know how long it'll be until I post again on my other story but I will eventually. Thanks for waiting. :) Hope you enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

Amy fell to the ground as the walker tore a chunk of flesh out of her right arm. Everyone began screaming at the sight of the walkers. Taylor ran towards Reagan but a walker cut her off and she was separated from the group. Carl and Sophia clung onto their mothers and Eliza and Louis hid behind their mom while Morales and all of the men got their nearby weapons. Everyone ducked down as Shane shouted and cocked his rifle,

"Lori, get him down!"

Shane began to shoot walkers with his rifle as Jim and Morales grabbed their baseball bats and hit the walkers in the head, killing them. Reagan lost sight of Taylor in all of the chaos and pulled out her small revolver from her back pocket and started to shoot the infected to protect the group around her as she screamed nervously,

"Taylor! Where are you!"

All of the group that was sitting around the biggest campfire but Amy and Taylor got in a large circle with the children in the center, protecting them from the danger all around them. Amy screamed as the walker bit her in the curve of her neck, causing Andrea to run forward and yell in horror as her younger sister was being attacked. Jim killed the walker that was biting Amy and Reagan watched as Andrea leaned over her dying sister, yelling and crying in horror. Meanwhile Shane was leading the group huddled around him to the RV and ordered them to stay close. Shane noticed that Reagan's little sister was missing and he began to shout her name too. Walkers feasted on dead bodies and with every body they passed by Reagan looked at the face, making sure that it wasn't her sister. None of the bodies nearby were Taylor but Reagan worried about her sister even more when she didn't see her. Reagan heard more gunshots and see glanced up to see Daryl, Glenn, T-Dog, and Rick had returned with rifles and were helping them kill the walkers in camp. She noticed that Merle wasn't with them. Reagan heard a familiar scream and saw Taylor fall to the ground with a walker on top of her. She raised her pistol and pulled the trigger but it clicked empty. Reagan shouted,

"Shane! She's over there! Shoot it! Help her!"

Shane aimed the rifle at the walker on top of the girl and pulled the trigger, he was out of ammo as well. He cursed loudly and Reagan watched in terror as Taylor brought her feet to her chest and forced them up so the walker's jaws were only an inch from her throat. Taylor shouted and grunted as she squirmed underneath the walker, trying to free herself but she didn't have enough strength. The flesh-eating monster above her growled and snapped its jaws, trying to tear off a chunk of the girl's flesh. Taylor screamed frantically as her legs started to give out,

"Help me! Help! Please!"

At the sound of the girl's screams Daryl turned and saw the walker on top of Taylor and he ran over to it. Daryl kicked the walker off of the girl and stabbed it in the head with his buck knife. Taylor felt the weight disappear from her body and she shakily sat up, panting from the effort to get the walker off of her. She watched with wide eyes as Daryl pulled out his knife from the walker's head and turned to face her. Daryl shot the last walker in the clearing with his shotgun and dropped it on the ground when all of the walkers were dead. Daryl faced the girl who was staring at him in fear and panting from exhaustion and noticed that she was covered in blood. He asked her in his strong southern accent,

"You bit? Scratched? Anythin' like that?"

Taylor violently shook her head no. She had killed a few walkers with her small knife and gotten their blood on her clothes. Daryl huffed and picked up Taylor in his arms, she wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her chin on his shoulder. Daryl could feel her rapid heartbeat against his chest as he carried her back to Reagan and the others. When Daryl reached the crowd around the RV he gave Taylor to Reagan and Reagan hugged her sister crying, she thought that Taylor was dead. And she would be if it weren't for Daryl. Rick was holding Carl and Carl was crying into his dad's shirt as Lori joined the two of them. Daryl picked up his gun and looked around the campsite, taking in all of the dead people and blood. Taylor turned and peeked over at Andrea as she started to sob loudly and wail her sister's name. Amy had died in her big sister's arms. Taylor began to cry into Reagan's arms as Amy went motionless. Everyone turned to see the two blonde sisters covered in blood, Andrea began to shake her sister's body, as if to wake her up, but it was no use. Taylor heard Jim say,

"I remember my dream now... why I dug the holes."

Before she knew it Taylor was in her bed, staring at the ceiling of the RV. She closed her eyes and managed to find sleep.

* * *

Taylor rolled over to see light flooding through the window of the RV. She sat up and stumbled over to the door, still wearing her shoes and dirty and bloody clothes from the day before. She opened the door and the first thing she saw besides Andrea hovering over Amy was Daryl slamming a pickaxe into a dead man's skull with a sickening squelch. Taylor's stomach lurched at the sight and she stepped out of the Winnebago and shut the door behind her. She knelt beside Andrea and gazed down at Amy. Taylor sniffed, she had said her goodbyes to Amy last night with teary eyes. She simply stated as she stood up, not wanting to see her dead friend anymore,

"Be careful. She'll turn."

Taylor walked over to Carol and Reagan and sat between them and watched as Rick tried to convince Andrea to let them take care of Amy. As soon as Rick reached Andrea she pulled out her pistol and pointed it at Rick and mumbled something to him that Taylor couldn't quite catch. Rick cautiously and slowly stepped away from Andrea, making her return her gaze back to Amy as he apologized softly,

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

Rick walked back to the group around the fire which consisted of Taylor, Carol, Daryl, Reagan, Lori, Shane, and Dale. Rick sighed in defeat as Daryl rested the pickaxe against his shoulder,

"We're just gonna have to wait,"

"Y'all can't be serious. Let that girl hamstring us? The dead girl's a time bomb."

argued Daryl as he pointed to the two blonde sisters. Rick asked him as he stared down at the ground,

"What do you suggest?"

"Take the shot. Clean, in the brain from here. Hell, I can hit a turkey between the eyes from this distance."

replied Daryl, pointing two fingers at his left temple as he mentioned shooting Amy in the head. Lori disagreed with him,

"No. For god's sakes, let her be."

Daryl scoffed at the woman and strode over to the bodies, stated to Jim as he walked by him,

"Wake up, Jimbo. We got some work to do."

Taylor rubbed the tiredness from her eyes and watched as Daryl dropped his pickaxe and helped a panting Morales pick up a body to move. Morales thanked Daryl as they each grabbed an arm and began to drag the body over to a fire where they were burning the walkers,

"Thanks. Thanks."

"Hey. What are you guys doing? This is for geeks. Our people go over there."

Glenn asked as he pointed to a pile of dead humans. Daryl only grunted in response as Glenn stopped them from dragging the body,

"What's the difference? They're all infected."

"Our people go in that row over there. We don't burn them! We bury them. Understand? Our people go in that row over there."

Glenn pointed to the pile of bodies and his voice cracked as he shouted. Daryl and Morales only stared at him as he spoke and when he was finished talking they changed directions and placed the body in the row with the other dead members of their group. There was only 19 people left. Ed and Amy had died in the attack along with all the other survivors that Taylor and Reagan hadn't met. Taylor guessed that they had to have lost around 15 people during the attack. Daryl called out as he dropped the body in the designated pile,

"You reap what you sow."

"You know what? Shut up, man."

ordered Morales in an annoyed tone. Daryl walked away from Morales to get his pickaxe and shouted,

"Y'all left my brother for dead! You had this comin'!"

Taylor scoffed at him and shook her head. She wanted to know what had happened to Merle but Daryl was in a bad mood and Rick probably wouldn't tell her because she was just a kid. That left T-Dog and Glenn. Since Glenn was closest to her Taylor decided to ask him. Taylor stood and took a few steps when Jacqui's shouts stopped her in her tracks,

"A walker got him! A walker bit Jim!"

Suddenly everyone that heard Jacqui was circling around Jim like vultures around a dying animal. Jim comforted himself softly,

"I'm okay. I'm okay."

"Show it to us. Show it to us!"

demanded Daryl as he pointed to Jim, still holding his deadly pickaxe. Jim spun around and picked up the shovel behind him, using it as a weapon. Shane ordered,

"Easy Jim."

"Grab 'im! Grab 'im! Right now!"

shouted Daryl. Shane tried to calm Jim over Daryl's demands,

"Jim, put it down. Put it down."

T-Dog, who was behind Jim took advantage of not being in the man's sight and ran forward, pinning Jim's arms to his side. Jim dropped the shovel and Daryl rushed forward and lifted up Jim's shirt after dropping his pickaxe, revealing a bite wound that was bleeding on his side. When everyone got a good look at the wound Daryl let go of Jim's shirt and backed away, his mouth hanging open in shock. The women and Taylor gasped at the sight of the bite, Jim was going to turn because of that. Everyone stared at Jim with wide eyes and T-Dog let go of the man who was still trying to assure himself that everything would be okay. Daryl bent over and grabbed his pickaxe as Rick waved everyone over to the smoldering fire and Jacqui made Jim sit on a crate by the back of the RV. Taylor glanced over her shoulder at Andrea and Amy, Andrea hadn't moved an inch besides pointing a gun at Rick earlier. Daryl gave his opinion about the situation,

"I say we put a pickaxe in his head and the dead girl's and be done with it."

"Is that what you'd want? If it were you?"

asked Shane as he peered up at Daryl from under the brim of his hat. Daryl responded,

"Yeah, and I'd thank you while you did it."

"I agree with Daryl. They'll both turn unless we do it."

imputed Taylor. Rick thought about it for a moment as Dale agreed with Daryl as well,

"I hate to say it- never thought I would, but maybe Daryl's right."

"Jim's not a monster Dale, or some rabid dog."

Taylor ignored them as they tried to talk over each other and she intently watched Daryl with her unusual gray eyes. She noticed how close he was to Carol, their arms were almost touching. Daryl replied to a question that Taylor didn't hear,

"The line's pretty clear. Zero tolerance for walkers, or them to be."

"What if we can get him help? I heard the CDC was working on a cure."

stated Rick. Shane replied,

"I heard that too. Heard a lot of things before the world went to hell."

"What if the CDC is still up and running?"

"Man, that is a stretch right there."

"Why? If there's any government left, any structure at all, they'd protect the CDC at all costs, wouldn't they? I think it's our best shot. Shelter, protection-"

Taylor groaned as Rick and Shane continued to argue. Shane wanted to go to Fort Benning and Rick chose the Center of Disease Control. All she knew was that with all the gunfire last night more walkers would come and that they needed to get out of camp fast. Taylor returned her gaze to Daryl who was glaring at Jim over his shoulder and readjusting his grip on the pickaxe in his hand. Daryl bit his bottom lip and nodded as he faced the group again. He growled as he lifted the pickaxe and dashed over to Jim, about to swing the pick down and kill him,

"You go lookin' for aspirin, do what you need to do. Someone needs to have the balls to take care damn problem!"

Rick ran after Daryl and cocked his pistol and pointed at the back of Daryl's head, warning him as he stated,

"Hey hey hey! We don't kill the living."

Daryl lowered his pickaxe and turned to face Rick. Shane stepped between Jim and Daryl right before Daryl commented in an angry tone,

"That's funny... comin' from a man who just put a gun to my head."

"We may disagree on some things, not on put it down. Go on."

ordered Shane, making Daryl turn to face him. Daryl slammed the pickaxe on the ground and grunted in anger as he did so. Daryl walked away and Taylor watched him go. He was right about putting Jim down in her mind but he didn't know how to handle telling the group that calmly. Carl pulled Taylor from her thoughts by saying to her,

"Sophia and I finally finished the game. Sophia won so you get to play her. C'mon."

"I'm comin'."

stated Taylor as she remembered the checkers game between the two children the second day she was at camp. Taylor followed Carl into the RV and sat on the couch on the opposite side of Sophia. Taylor glanced behind her to see Jim in the bed groaning in pain. Carl sat next to her and Taylor said to Sophia,

"You go first."

Sophia moved one of her pawns and Taylor moved one of hers in response. As the game progressed Carl commented with a grin,

"May the best girl win."

"Challenge accepted."

replied Sophia with a large smile on her lips. About fifteen minutes had passed and Taylor was losing, bad. She had two pawns left while Sophia had seven. Taylor held up a white napkin that was on the table and waved it in the air like a flag and stated with a straight face,

"I surrender. The queen Sophia has won!"

As soon as those words popped out of Taylor's mouth all three of the kids burst into laughter. Reagan stepped into the RV, put her hands on her hips dramatically, and demanded,

"What's going on here?"

"I lost checkers."

responded Taylor between giggles. Reagan raised her eyebrows at her younger sister like she was crazy. Carl stopped laughing first and corrected,

"She _forfeited _checkers because she was already gonna lose. By a lot."

Reagan gazed over at the checker board and sighed as she walked back outside,

"You've always sucked at checkers Tay. It's kind of sad really,"

"I know!"

called back the younger sister with a grin. Taylor glanced over to Carl and silently asked him if he'd stand up so she could leave. Carl stood and Taylor didn't say a word as she stepped outside of the RV and into the warm Georgian breeze. Taylor strode over to the dying campfire and picked up her water bottle that she had left by the log she sat on the night before. Carol and Dale were sitting at the fire as well but they weren't talking. Taylor took a sip of the water, feeling it slide down her throat. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Amy's body twitch a few times. Taylor sucked in a breath, Amy had turned. Reagan glanced over at her younger sister and realized that she was watching as Amy lifted up an arm and grabbed onto Andrea's hair. Reagan abandoned Lori and ran to her teary-eyed sister, hugging her and blocking her view of Amy and Andrea. Taylor quietly sobbed into her older sister's shirt and after a few seconds she heard a gunshot. It was over. Amy was dead for good.

* * *

All of the remaining survivors besides Jim were on the hill where Jim had dug the holes. Carol, Sophia, Reagan, and Taylor were all standing aside in a little group watching the bodies go in the holes. Taylor didn't really pay attention and instead twirled her necklace around her fingers. Reagan had told her that she had the other wing and it was so they'd always have something to remember each other if something happened. Taylor's head snapped up when Andrea was dragging Amy, who was in a body bag, to her grave, the last hole. Dale stepped forward and softly grabbed Amy's feet, trying to help the crying woman but Andrea told him that she could do it herself. Andrea stepped into the hole and Dale slowly leaned down, and when Andrea didn't tell him that she could do it, he grabbed Amy's feet and lowered her into the hole. Lori was crying and Taylor sniffed as she fought back tears. Taylor watched as Dale held out his hand and Andrea took it in silence and he helped her out of the hole. Andrea walked back to camp and everyone followed her in silence. When they reached the clearing Shane strode over to the fire and called out,

"Alright! Everyone gather 'round!"

Taylor and Reagan sat on their log with Sophia and Carol taking the place of the two blonde sisters. Andrea sat in a chair curled in a ball with Dale watching over her. Morales's family sat on the other log, Shane, Rick, Daryl, and Glenn stood while the others sat in chairs. When everyone was settled Shane gave a little speech,

"I've been uh, I've been thinkin' about Rick's plan. Now look, there are no guarantees either way. I'll be the first one to admit that.I've known this man for a long time. I trust his instincts. I say the most important thing here is we need to stay together. So those of you who agree, we leave first thing in the morning. Okay?"

No one answered Shane and everyone went off to their own tents to sleep because the sun was setting. Dale stayed behind and pulled the two sisters aside and said to them,

"Jim is in the RV so where do you two want to sleep?"

"I'll take the floor. You two can get the fold out bed. Dale you're older so I don't want you to be uncomfortable. I'll be fine. Now let's go."

stated Taylor. Dale and Reagan followed the girl to the RV and didn't bother arguing with her. She'd disagree with them anyway.

* * *

Everyone was gathered by the cars at the entrance of the camp besides Jim who was still in the RV. Taylor had changed her clothes and was now wearing a purple shirt with a soccer ball on it and faded jean shorts. Shane and Rick standing at the front of the group about to tell them what to do on the way to the CDC. Shane gave him his speech,

"Everybody listen up. For those of you with C.B.s, we're gonna be on channel 40. Let's keep the chatter down, okay? Now you got a problem, don't have a C.B., can't get a signal or anything at all, you're gonna hit your horn one time. That'll stop the caravan. Any questions?"

"We're, uh... we're not going."

stated Morales. Everyone stared at the family of four in shock. Miranda explained to them,

"We have family in Birmingham. We want to be with our people."

"You go on your own, you won't have anyone to watch your back."

stated Shane. Morales sighed and replied,

"We'll take the chance. I got to do what's best for my family."

"You sure?"

asked Rick. Morales responded,

"We talked about it. We're sure."

"The box is half full."

stated Shane as he and Rick gave Morales a revolver and a box of ammo. Daryl scoffed and paced back and forth, he disagreed with the idea of giving the family ammo and a gun that they needed. Carl, Sophia, Eliza, and Louis were crying, they'd miss their friends. Taylor didn't know them well so she didn't care about it. Miranda thanked them,

"Thank you all... for everything."

Taylor and Reagan watched as everyone said their goodbyes to the family. Eliza gave Sophia her doll and Sophia clutched it in her arms, it was the only thing she would have to remember her friend once she left. The Morales family got in their car and drove off as Shane told everyone which car they would go in,

"Carol, Sophia and the Grimes family go in Carol's Cherokee. Dale, Glenn, and Jacqui, go with Jim in the RV. I'll go in my Jeep. T-Dog, Andrea, and Reagan go in T's van. And Taylor and Daryl go in Daryl's truck. I'm sorry you two but there's not enough room for both of you in a car."

Shane looked over at Taylor and Reagan as he said the last sentence. Taylor said sarcastically with a fake smile,

"Great."

"C'mon let's go!"

shouted Shane. Everyone got in their designated vehicles and Taylor and Daryl walked over to his truck. She couldn't believe that she had to be in a truck for two days with Daryl Dixon, or as Reagan saw him, the angry redneck.


	7. Driving With Daryl

Taylor sighed and opened the passenger door to Daryl's baby blue and grey Ford pickup. Taylor sat in the bench seat and shut the door after she was in the vehicle. Daryl waited until Taylor buckled up before he put his foot on the gas pedal. Daryl put one hand on the steering wheel and chewed on his thumbnail. Taylor shifted in the seat to make herself more comfortable and rested her elbow on the doorframe, leaning her head on her hand. Daryl's truck smelled like cigarettes, dirt, and beer, just like her father used to smell like after a night at the bar. Taylor stared out of the rolled down window, watching the scenery pass by as they drove along the road. After a few minutes of awkward silence she asked Daryl curiously,

"Why'd you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Save me from the walker."

replied Taylor as she scoffed. She turned her head to face Daryl as he thought about the question for a moment. He gruffly answered after a few seconds,

"You cared 'bout my brother. Guessed that I'd return the favor."

"What happened to Merle anyways?"

questioned Taylor. She watched as Daryl's grip tightened on the steering wheel and his jaw clenched in anger at the question. Taylor cringed away a bit, afraid that he'd hit her because she asked about his brother. He answered through gritted teeth,

"Cut off his hand to get out. He left the building after he cauterized the wound. We didn't find 'im."

"Oh..."

was all that Taylor could manage to say to the man. She was shocked that the older Dixon did that but she figured that he had better chances escaping than being left on that roof the die slowly. Daryl wasn't the kind of person that could easily have a conversation with someone he didn't know well. Because of this Taylor didn't say anything else and instead returned her gaze to the trees they drove past, making the awkward silence between them return. No longer than fifteen minutes had passed since the conversation ended, the vehicles ahead of them came to a stop. Daryl muttered in confusion,

"What the hell?"

Taylor sighed and the two of them exchanged glances before they opened the doors of the truck and stepped outside into the heat. The two walked side by side towards the RV where everyone was crowded around. Dale and Rick were at the front of the RV and looking at the hissing engine which was smoking. When Taylor and Daryl reached the RV Dale stated to Rick,

"I told you that we'd never et far on that hose. I needed that one from the cube van."

"Can you jury-rig it?"

questioned Rick as he put his hands on his hips. Taylor guessed that they were talking about the broken radiator hose. Dale looked back down at the smoking engine and stated,

"That's all it's been so far. More duct tape than hose."

Suddenly Jacqui came running out of the Winnebago and said in a worried tone,

"Y'all, it's Jim... I don't think he can take much more of this!"

Taylor watched as Rick disappeared into the RV after Jacqui. Taylor thought for a moment then she jogged back to Daryl's truck, she remembered a roll of duct tape on the floor of the truck. When she opened the door to Daryl's truck she peered under the seat and saw the roll of tape under it. Taylor grabbed what was left of the duct tape and jumped when she heard Daryl's demanding voice behind her,

"What are ya doin'?"

"Gettin' stuff to fix the Winnebago."

she replied as she backed out of the car and shut the door when she was out of the truck. When she turned around she was face to face with Daryl. He glanced down at the gray duct tape in her hand and he called out to Dale,

"DALE! Duct tape!"

Taylor began to walk over to Dale alongside DAryl, their strides matching after a few steps. Taylor tossed the tape to Dale when she was close enough to him and he thanked her in his kind voice. Taylor stood next to Reagan as everyone crowded around Rick as soon as he stepped out of the RV, waiting for knowledge of what was happening with Jim. Rick stated,

"We're gonna leave him here. It's what he wants."

"Is he lucid?"

asked Carol with a look of disbelief on her face. Rick scratched his nose and hesitantly answered,

"I would say yes."

"Back in the camp, when I said Daryl was right and you shut me down... you misunderstood. I would _never _go along with callously killing a man. I was just gonna suggest that we ask Jim what he wants. And I think we have an answer."

explained Dale. Shane asked Rick uneasily,

"We just leave him here? We take off? Man, I'm not so sure I can live with that."

"It's not your call, either one of you. It's Jim's call. He has decided so we let him do what he wants."

stated Reagan as she tucked her hair behind her ear. Taylor leaned against the Winnebago next to Sophia and Carl while Shane and Rick half-carried, half-dragged Jim over to a tree. The three children strode over to Jim as soon as he was leaned against a tree. Jim was breathing heavily and he gazed up at the branches of the oak tree and commented,

"Hey, another damn tree."

Jim chuckled to himself and Shane said his goodbyes to Jim. Everyone else did the same until Daryl, Taylor, and Reagan were the only ones left. Reagan and Taylor stepped forward and Taylor gave Jim a soft smile and was about to walk back to Daryl's truck but Jim stopped her by saying weakly,

"Hey. You two lookout for each other. Protect each other. You're the only siblings left. Okay?"

"Don't worry Jim. We will."

promised Reagan with a small smile. Reagan strode down the hill and back into T-Dog's van while Taylor went the opposite direction and sat in Daryl's truck. Seconds after she buckled up Daryl opened the door of his truck and started the old Ford F-250. As they drove by Jim the two of them glanced over at him to see Jim looking peaceful with his eyes closed. When they were safely on the road Daryl asked Taylor while he chewed on the back of his thumb,

"What happened to your eye?"

"Ed and all the girls doin' laundry were arguing over Carol and I got in the middle of it and Ed hit me."

explained Taylor in a quiet voice. Daryl's jaw clenched and his knuckles on the steering wheel turned white as he gripped it harder. Taylor leaned away from him a little and rubbed a fading scar on her left shoulder. Daryl was furious that Ed hit the little girl. Unlike Ed he had respect for women and especially children. Daryl's blue eyes flashed over to Taylor and he saw a faint pink line on her shoulder. When Taylor saw Daryl looking at her arm she tried to pull the sleeve of her purple T-shirt down more so her scar would be hidden from his prying eyes. Daryl questioned in a low voice,

"Who did that?"

"I fell."

lied Taylor, refusing to make eye contact and instead she stared down at her hands in her lap. Daryl's eyes bore into Taylor, he knew that she was lying. After a few seconds of being held under Daryl's blue gaze Taylor told the truth,

"My dad."

Daryl grunted in response, his father was the same to him when he was a child. Taylor added as she gazed into Daryl's electric blue eyes,

"Please don't tell."

"I won't."

muttered Daryl. Not wanting to talk about it anymore, Taylor changed the subject,

"So what did you do before all this?"

"Was a mechanic. I fixed up old cars while Merle sat on his ass all day drinkin' beer."

Taylor didn't reply to him, she didn't know what t say so she looked out of the window again. She thought about how no one really cared about Daryl and hated him because of his wild temper. Taylor could tell that he really was a nice guy on the inside but he had a hard time showing it to the other members of the group. She knew that the others had no clue of what it felt like to be Daryl. Taylor probably would've reacted the same way if she learned that Reagan had been handcuffed to a roof and left to die there, but the others wouldn't understand because they never thought of putting themselves in Daryl's position unlike Taylor. Taylor began to chew on the inside of her cheek, it was one of her bad habits. The other one she had picked up from Reagan was biting her nails. Daryl suddenly interrupted Taylor's thoughts,

"So... you and Carl are together now, huh?"

Taylor's face flushed at the sound of Carl's name and her and him being a thing. Daryl chuckled at her reaction, boy did he have an answer. Taylor whispered in shock,

"How'd you know?"

"Your sister, Reagan, told me. And I could tell. When you, Carl, and Sophia were leanin' on the RV you stood right next to Carl and your arms were touchin'."

answered Daryl with a smirk on his face. Taylor glared at Daryl and demanded angrily,

"Are ya tryin' to embarrass me?"

"You'll see."

responded Daryl. Taylor didn't ask what that meant because she knew that she wasn't going to get an answer from the younger of the two Dixon brothers. Taylor muttered under her breath so Daryl wouldn't hear her,

"I hate you so much Daryl."

It was around five o'clock and Taylor was exhausted and decided to take a nap so she rolled up the window and turned sideways in her seat so she was facing Daryl. She leaned her head against the seat, brought her legs up to her chest, closed her eyes, and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Taylor felt a calloused hand on her bare knee. It was gently shaking her so she'd wake up. Taylor's eyes fluttered open and she groaned as the light from the setting sun blinded her for a few seconds. Daryl stated to the waking girl,

"You should get up. We'll be there soon."

Taylor's eyes adjusted to the light and her gray gaze landed on Daryl. Taylor asked Daryl as she sat up and stretched,

"How long was I asleep?"

"'Bout an hour."

Taylor rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and yawned. She just wanted to get into the CDC, take a shower, then sleep in a bed there. As they drove another couple miles, Taylor thought of the 'you'll see' thing that Daryl had said earlier, meant. She felt the car come to a stop and the two got out of the car after Daryl grabbed his crossbow and shotgun. Taylor shut the door behind her and she ran forward to catch up with Reagan, Sophia, Carol, Carl, and Lori who were all in a group on the sidewalk. The bodies of killed walkers littered the ground around the Center of Disease Control and flies buzzed around the corpses. The odor that came off of the infected was nauseating. Everyone couched and covered their noses fro the terrible smell that surrounded them but Daryl as Rick led them up to the doors of the CDC. Carol hugged Sophia as they walked and Carl practically glued himself to Lori's side while Reagan kept a hand on Taylor's shoulder as they strode towards the roll up doors at the front of the large building. After Rick and Shane cocked their guns Shane steeped off to one side and let the others pass him as he whispered comfortingly,

"Alright, everybody. Keep moving. Go on. Stay quiet. Let's go."

Taylor and Glenn started to gag a little and groan as the odor became stronger when they walked past a sign that had **CDC Center of Disease Control **on it in bold white letters. Daryl, who hadn't reacted to the nauseating stench yet, gently elbowed Taylor in the ribs and asked,

"C'mon, what's your problem? Ain't bad at all."

Taylor stopped herself from puking and didn't respond to Daryl and instead glared at him. Rick ordered over his shoulder as he raised his rifle,

"Okay, keep moving. Stay together. Keep moving. Come on."

"Shhh. Be quiet."

added Shane. Glenn groaned loudly again and was told to shut up by Shane. They followed the concrete path leading up to the building and passed two tank that were in the grass next to the wide path. Night was approaching, and fast so Rick waved to the others and signaled them to run behind him as he commanded,

"Keep it together. Come on."

"We're almost there baby. Almost."

Lori stated to Carl as he was about to vomit. The terrible smell was less noticeable when they reached the roll up doors at the front of the building so Taylor pulled her hand away from her nose. Rick and Shane banged on the doors and Shane tried to lift up the doors without any luck as Rick asked,

"Nothing?"

"There's nobody here."

said T-Dog when Shane didn't answer. Rick demanded, not wanting to admit he was wrong and wanting to keep hope,

"Then why are these shutters down?"

"WALKERS!"

shouted Daryl as he spun around to face a dozen of the infected heading towards them. Carl and Sophia whimpered, fearing that there was no hope and that this was how they were to die. Lori comforted her son,

"Baby, come on. It's okay."

All of the men cocked their guns and Daryl swiftly shot the closest walker with his crossbow. Daryl shouted to Rick after the walker was taken care of,

"You led us into a graveyard!"

"He made a call."

defended Dale as he tried to keep all of them calm in this situation. Daryl argued,

"It was the wrong damn call!"

"You shut up. You hear me? Shut up. Shut up!"

ordered Shane as he ran forward and got in Daryl's face, pushing him. Shane backed off and strode over to Rick and stated,

"Rick, this is a dead end."

"Where are we gonna go?"

asked Carol as she was on the brink of tears at the thought of her and Sophia's gruesome death here. Taylor grabbed her necklace that Reagan and backed up a few feet so she was next to her older sister. Shane asked Rick,

"Do you hear me? No blame."

"She's right. We can't be here, this close to the city after dark."

Lori agreed with Carol. Shane stated to Rick as he tried to find a way to open the doors,

"Fort Benning, Rick, still an option."

"On what? No food, no water, no fuel. That's like a hundred miles away."

demanded Taylor. Glenn corrected her,

"125. I checked the map."

"Whatever. Close enough."

responded Reagan. Carl began to cry into his mother's arms and Sophia clutched the doll that Eliza gave her to her chest like a security blanket. Lori stated,

"Forget Fort Benning. We need answers _tonight,_ now."

"We'll think of something."

stated Rick as he turned to face his wife. Shane began to lead everyone but Rick and Lori back over to the cars and shouted,

"Come on, let's go! Let's get out of here. Alright, everybody back to the cars!"

"Let's go. Please."

begged Lori as she hurried to the vehicles. Rick stayed behind and stared at the camera for a few seconds the called over to everyone,

"The camera. It moved."

"You imagined it."

said Dale as everybody stopped at Rick's words and started to walk back over to him. Rick defended himself as he stepped closer to the camera above the doors,

"It moved. It moved."

"Rick, it's dead man. It's an automated device. It's gears, okay? They're just winding down. Now come on. Man, just listen to me. Look around this place. It's dead, okay? It's dead. You need to let it go, Rick!"

said Shane as he tried to convince Rick to go back but Rick didn't move. Rick dashed forward and banged on the doors twice before staring back up at the camera. Lori shouted desperately, but Rick only talked to the camera as Shane yelled at him and everyone else to get back to the cars,

"Rick, there's nobody here!"

"I know you're in there. I know you can hear me! Please, we're desperate. Please help us! We have women, children, no food and water, hardly any gas left. There's nowhere else to go."

"Rick, you're bringin' more down on us! Shut it!"

ordered Reagan. Rick ignored her and banged on the doors again and kept yelling,

"If you don't let us in, you're killing us! PLEASE!"

Shane dragged Rick away and everyone began shouting as more walkers came at the sound of Rick's shouting. Rick screamed desperately as Shane dragged him away from the camera,

"YOU'RE KILLING US! YOU'RE KILLING US! YOU"RE KILLING US!"

Shane managed to pull Rick away and everyone lowered their weapons and stared in shock as the door opened and a bright white light flooded through the opening, there were other survivors inside.

**Sorry for short chapter. I wanted it to end like that though. I'll make up for it with longer chapters next.**


	8. Revealed Secrets

"Daryl, cover the back."

ordered Shane as the light dimmed and Rick began to walk inside of the building with his rifle raised. Reagan kept her arm around Taylor as they entered the CDC and didn't see anyone in the gigantic lobby. Taylor gazed around the large room in awe as Rick called out,

"Hello? Hello?"

"Close those doors. Watch for walkers."

ordered Dale. Rick called out again as no one came to the lobby,

"Hello?"

A gun cocked to their left and everyone turned to see who it was. The men of their group raised their guns as they spotted a figure in the shadows. The man stepped into the light and revealed himself, he was wearing a baggy white T-shirt and what was left of his blonde hair was messy. The man demanded as he pointed a semi-automatic rifle at the survivors,

"Anybody infected?"

"One of our group was. He didn't make it."

stated Rick, Jacqui sniffed as he mentioned Jim. Rick and the man began to have a tense conversation with each other,

"Why are you here? What do you want?"

"A chance."

"That's asking an awful lot these days."

"I know."

replied Rick. The man's eyes scanned over the group and his gaze landed on the three children that were all standing next to each other. It was silent for a moment as the man thought for a few seconds. He finally stated,

"You all submit to a blood test. That's the price of admission."

"We can do that."

responded Rick and Reagan became stiff for a few moments. She was never really comfortable around needles and she dreaded getting shots at the doctor's because of that. The man pointed to the door behind them and ordered sternly,

"You got stuff to bring in, you do it now. Once this door closes, it stays closed."

* * *

Everyone had their belongings with them since the men had gotten them while the women stayed inside the building so they would be safe from any harm outside of the building. The man that had saved them pushed a button on the keypad on the wall and said to it,

"Vi, seal the main entrance. Kill the power up here."

The door rattled as it closed with a clang and the man introduced himself to the group as Dr. Edwin Jenner. Taylor guessed that he was named after the scientist Edward Jenner, the man who developed the first smallpox vaccine. Jenner strode over to an elevator, opened it, and ordered,

"Get in."

All of the group managed to fit in the elevator, even if they were all a bit cramped inside of it. Taylor and Carl had to stand next to each other, not that Taylor complained, but their hands would accidentally brush each other occasionally and it would send a shiver up Taylor's arm at his touch. Taylor glanced up at Daryl who was standing in the corner and as they made eye contact Daryl mouthed, 'lovebirds' and nodded to her and Carl's touching hands. Taylor felt her face heat up and she rolled her eyes at him and he scoffed in reply. Daryl asked the scientist as he stared at the AR-15 in Jenner's hands,

"Doctors always go around packin' heat like that?"

"There were plenty lying around. I familiarized myself... But you look harmless enough. Except you. I'll have to keep my eye on you."

Jenner pointed to Carl as he joked around. Taylor and Carl smiled while Jenner softly chuckled to himself. The elevator stopped and Jenner led the group down an empty hallway. Carol asked with worry in her voice,

"Are we underground?"

"Are you claustrophobic?"

responded Jenner. Carol answered in her quiet voice,

"A little."

"Try not to think about it."

ordered the scientist. There was a huge room at the end of the hall and Dr. Jenner ordered,

"Vi, bring up the lights in the big room."

Obeying him, the lights turned on and illuminated the room. There were empty chairs occupying the desks and computers, no one else was in there. Jenner said to Rick's group,

"Welcome to zone 5."

"Where is everybody? The other doctors? the staff?"

asked Rick as he followed Jenner down a ramp that led to the desks. Everyone followed the scientist and former sheriff and they stopped at the end of the ramp as Jenner stood in the middle of the room, turned to face them, and answered,

"I'm it. It's just me here."

"What about the person you were speaking with? Vi?"

questioned Lori as everyone gawked at the scientist. Jenner commanded,

"Vi, say hello to our guests. Tell them... welcome."

"_Hello guests. Welcome."_

responded a computerized voice on the overhead speakers. Jenner repeated himself,

"I'm all that's left. I'm sorry. Let's get your blood tests done."

Jenner led all of the disappointed group to another room with countless chairs and a whiteboard on the wall at the front of the room. Jenner grabbed his equipment and pulled up two chairs at a table so he could collect the blood samples. One by one, each member let Jenner take blood from their arms until only Andrea and Taylor were left. Reagan had already went and Jenner comforted her as he took the blood so she wouldn't freak out. Jenner waved Taylor over and she stood up and sat in the chair across from him. He grabbed her arm and held it on the table and Taylor pulled it away from him. Jenner grabbed a blue strip of rubber that was used a tourniquet and looked at Taylor expectantly. She held her arm out and mumbled as he tied the tourniquet around her bicep,

"Sorry."

"Don't be. Are you trypanophobic?"

"No. My sister is afraid of needles. I'm merinthophobic. Ya know, the fear of being restrained or held down."

explained Taylor. She looked away as he put the needle in her arm and he chuckled and commented,

"Wow, you guys are fun. Claustrophobia here, trypanophobia there, and merinthophobia."

Taylor sighed and he put a band-aid on her arm after he took off the tourniquet. Taylor stood up and strode over to Reagan who was leaning against the wall next to Carol and Sophia. Taylor sat on the carpet and opened her backpack as Andrea sat in the chair across from Dr. Jenner. Since it was a little chilly in the room Taylor put on her gray hoodie and rolled the sleeves up to just below her elbow. Taylor zipped up her backpack and turned to look at Andrea as she asked about the blood tests,

"What's the point? If we were infected we'd all be running a fever."

"I've already broken every rule in the book letting you in here. Let me just at least be thorough."

replied Jenner as he finished taking her blood. He put a band-aid on her arm and stated after a sigh,

"All done."

Andrea stood and stumbled a bit but Jacqui caught her before she fell. Jenner questioned with concern in his voice,

"Are you okay?"

"She hasn't eaten in days. None of us have."

answered Jacqui as she turned towards the scientist.

* * *

Everyone was laughing and having a good time. They were all sitting around a table covered in food along with bottles of wine, whiskey, beer, and soda. Taylor was sitting between Daryl and Sophia and Reagan was next to Glenn and T-Dog. Dale laughed and stated as he poured a glass of wine for Lori,

"Ya know, in Italy children have a little bit of wine for dinner... and in France!"

"Well, when Carl is in Italy or France, he can have some then."

Lori replied as she took her glass from Dale and took a sip of her wine. Taylor looked over at Carl and giggled as he grinned from all of the attention he was getting. Rick chewed his food and laughed at Carl,

"What's it gonna hurt? Come on?"

Lori set her glass of wine on the table and put her hand on the rim of Carl's empty glass so Dale couldn't give her son any of the wine. Taylor poured some more soda in her glass and motioned to Carl's glass with a smile,

"Come on Lori! Let him have some fun for once."

Lori turned towards Taylor and laughed, the alcohol was getting to her already. Lori nodded and uncovered the glass, making Taylor grin, she was proud of her success. Dale took Carl's glass and poured a little wine in it and held it out to Carl as he said,

"Here you are young lad."

Carl took his glass and had a small sip of wine, everyone was staring at him eagerly, wanting to see his reaction as he drank the strong alcohol. Taylor giggled as his face scrunched up with a look of disgust. He put the glass down in surprise and exclaimed,

"Ewww!"

He shook his head and stuck his tongue out, trying to get rid of the revolting taste. Taylor thought he looked cute and everyone burst out laughing at his reaction. Lori grinned and rubbed her son's back and stated proudly,

"That's my boy. That's my boy."

"Here."

said Taylor as she handed Carl a new glass with some soda in it. Carl snatched it from her hand and downed the whole thing in a few swallows. Carl sighed and smiled when the terrible taste was gone gone from his mouth. Shane smiled down at the boy, making him nod in agreement,

"Let's just stick to soda pop there bud. Huh?"

"Not you Glenn!"

shouted Daryl with a grin. He was about to pour some whiskey for Shane from the bottle he had claimed for himself when he saw Glenn staring at the label of a wine bottle. Glenn looked up at Daryl and stuttered in confusion,

"Wh-what?"

"Keep drinkin' little man. I wanna see how red your face can get!"

challenged Daryl, he was really enjoying the alcohol, he had already consumed three glasses before he had claimed his own bottle. Everybody laughed at the two of them and Glenn laughed as well but Daryl only grinned at the young Asian boy. Everyone turned and stopped laughing as Rick clinked his glass with a fork and stood up. He stated as he gazed over at Jenner,

"It seems to me we haven't thanked our host properly."

"He is more than just our host."

added T-Dog as he raised his glass, his words were slurred from the alcohol. Everybody raised their glasses,

"Hear Hear!"

"Here's to you Doc."

"Booyah!"

shouted Daryl, making everyone laugh again. As the alcohol took over Daryl and he got drunker by the second he blurted out,

"Taylor likes Carl!"

At those three words Taylor's face turned crimson and she pushed her food away. She crossed her arms on the table and she buried her face in them, too embarrassed to look at anyone. All the members of the Grimes family asked in disbelief,

"What!?"

"Yep. It's true."

replied Reagan with a cocky grin on her face. Without lifting her head from the table, Taylor reached back behind her head and pulled the hood of her jacket over her head. Glenn and Reagan commented as everyone laughed at her,

"Awww. How cute, she's embarrassed."

"I don't exist."

groaned Taylor from under her hoodie, that only made the others laugh harder except for Carl. Carl was staring at Taylor in shock, not believing that she liked them and Daryl couldn't stop laughing at the girl. Reagan loved making fun of her younger sister so she took advantage of the situation,

"Young love at its finest. Carl and Taylor sittin' in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

"SHUT UP!"

roared Taylor furiously as she lifted her head up to glare at her sister and noticed that Daryl was still sitting next to her. Reagan laughed, clearly enjoying herself,

"And it lives!"

Taylor pulled the hood back on and hid again, this time putting her hands on her hood so they couldn't pull it off. Everybody but Carl started to have laughing fits again. Carl was pissed off, she had no reason to be made fun of because of him. Daryl patted Taylor's back twice, trying to make her stop hiding in her jacket. Taylor punched Daryl as hard as she could without lifting her head and he pretended to whimper in pain. Carl demanded angrily as he saw Taylor's shoulders shake as she sobbed,

"Stop! Can't you see she's crying!?"

Everyone went silent and turned to Taylor, she _was_ crying. Before anyone made fun of Carl and his new _girlfriend_, Shane broke the awkward silence by asking Jenner,

"So when are you gonna tell us what the hell happened here Doc? All the... other doctors that were supposed to be figuring out what happened, where are they?"

"We're celebrating, Shane. Don't need to do this now."

stated Rick as he sat down and glared at the man. Shane asked as he gazed at Jenner,

"Ya mean makin' fun of that girl? That is why we're here, to find answers. This was your move. Supposed to find all the answers. We found him. Found one man, why?"

"Well, when things got bad, a lot of people just left, went off to be with their families. And when things got worse, when the military cordon got overrun, the rest bolted."

explained Jenner as he stared off into space with a dead expression. Wanting to prove Rick's call as a bad one, Shane questioned,

"Every last one?"

"No. Many couldn't face walking out of the door. They... opted out. There was a rash of suicides. That was a bad time."

answered Jenner. Andrea thought for a moment then asked with curiosity in her voice,

"You didn't leave. Why?"

"I just kept workin', hoping to do some good."

"Dude, you are such a buzzkill man."

complained Glenn as he glared at Shane.

* * *

They were all following Jenner who was leading them down a hall way that led to the rooms that they would be staying in. Taylor was still angry and embarrassed so she still had her hood on her head and was standing at the front of the group, next to Carl and Sophia. The whole time she avoided Carl's gaze, not knowing what he thought of her after Daryl's outburst at dinner. Meanwhile, Daryl was staying in the back because he kept stumbling over everyone's feet because he was drunk and he didn't want to get hit again, his arm was sore where Taylor had lashed out at him. Daryl thought to himself crankily as he took another swig of the bottle of alcohol in his hand, _Damn. That girl punches hard. _Jenner explained as he stopped in the middle of the hallway and turned to face them as he pointed his finger at them,

"Most of the facility is powered down including housing, so you'll have to make do here. The couches are comfortable, but there's cots in storage if you like. There's a rec room down the hall that you kids might enjoy. Just don't plug in the video games, okay? The same applies. If you shower, go easy on the hot water."

Taylor, Carl, and Sophia nodded in agreement. After a second or two, Jenner walked away, leaving the group standing still in surprise, their mouths open in amazement. Glenn turned to face the group and asked with a grin,

"Hot water?..."

"That's what the man said."

stated T-Dog with a smile even wider than Glenn's. Both of the men laughed and Taylor and Sophia smiled. Everyone had parted ways and gone in their own rooms but Taylor leaned against the wall and picked at the skin on the tip of her fingers, in deep thought. She felt hand on her shoulder and she jumped in surprise and turned her head and looked up to see who it was. Her hood fell off and Carol smiled down at her. She asked,

"Are you comin'?"

"What?"

asked Taylor, her brows furrowing in confusion. Carol answered sweetly,

"To our room. Sophia and I found a bigger one. Rea and Sophia are already in there."

Taylor chewed on the inside of her cheek, thinking about it, then nodded in reply and readjusted the strap of her backpack on her shoulder to make it a little more comfortable. Taylor followed Carol into their room and took it in as she shut the door behind her. There was a bed in the corner with a trunk at the end of it and two couches against two of the walls, opposite of each other, she didn't see her sister. There was a coffee table in front of one of the couches and a small table next to the other one. Taylor watched as Sophia placed her hairbrush and purple headband on the nightstand next to the bed. Taylor tossed her bag on the couch furthest from where the others would sleep then sighed as she pulled off her jacket. Daryl was gone and it was warm in their room. Taylor sat on the black couch that she had claimed and slid off her sneakers with her toes, too tired to bend down and take them off normally. Carol laid on the bed next to her daughter and smiled as she stated,

"Finally, a real mattress to sleep on."

Taylor smiled and Sophia hummed in response. Taylor groaned as she stood up and began to explore the room. She opened a door that was a few feet from the bed to see a decent sized bathroom. She left the door open and strode over to the last wood door in the room by Reagan's couch. Taylor put her hand on the knob and opened it. She shrieked in fright as Reagan jumped out of the closet, on top of her, and yelled,

"For Narnia!"

Once Taylor realized that it was her sister she growled and pushed her away. Reagan was doubled over laughing and Carol and Sophia were giggling as well. Taylor looked past her sister and saw clean white towels hanging in the closet. Taylor pulled out four of them as Reagan pointed at her younger sister and said between fits of laughter,

"You should've... seen... the look... on your face!"

"I found towels. You guys wanna shower?"

asked Taylor as she turned to face Carol and Sophia and ignored her sister. Carol replied,

"In a minute. I'll help you get your beds set up first and get our fresh clothes ready."

"Okay."

responded Taylor. Carol got off of the bed and grabbed some extra blankets out of the chest at the foot of the bed for the Burrows sisters. Taylor gave Sophia a towel and set Carol's on her side of the bed after she tossed Reagan her own. Her sister had stopped laughing and took a few blankets from Carol and prepared her couch to sleep on for when they got back while Carol prepared Taylor's. Taylor opened her backpack and pulled out a clean purple tank top and gray sweatpants along with her brush, which she set on the small table next to her couch. She smirked a little when she chose the _gray _sweats, her sister always thought that she wore too much gray and her argument would be that she liked gray and that it matched her eyes most of the time. Carol sighed when she finished making Taylor's couch more comfortable and turned to her daughter who had already picked out her mom's clothes. Carol picked up her things along with the rest of them and opened the door to their room, stepping out into the hallway. They spotted Lori disappear into a room with a towel and fresh clothes so they followed her. Lori smiled to the four of them as they entered the shower room behind her and said,

"I've been waiting for this. A hot shower."

Lori set her clothes on a bench in the middle of the rectangular room and tossed her towel on top of the door of a shower and stepped inside fully clothed. Taylor chose a shower and did the same as Carl's mom. Taylor shut the tinted dark gray door behind her and took her clothes off. She tossed the dirty clothes in the corner of the large shower so they wouldn't get wet and turned to face the knob of the shower. She turned it enough so the water would be hot and held her hands under the steady stream of water, smiling as the warmth sent goosebumps over her body. Taylor stepped under the water and gasped in delight as her hair dampened and turned a light brown, she felt some of the dirt and sweat wash out from her scalp immediately. She let the water hit her face and poured some shampoo and conditioner in her hand. She put them in her hair and scrubbed the dirt out after rubbing it in. Taylor ran her fingers through her hair and began to wash her body clean of the sweat and grime that had gathered on her body for the past week.

She had washed herself off in creek beds but this, this was _heaven _to her. It was the best shower that Taylor had ever had in her whole life. When her body was clean and the water was shut off, the twelve year-old reached up and grabbed her towel off of the door. She wrapped it around her body and picked up her clothes from the ground. Taylor open the door and stepped out of the shower, Reagan doing the same only seconds later. The younger Burrows sister shivered as steam rose off of her body from the cool air she stepped into. Taylor spotted a basket in the corner with all of the dirty clothes in it. She tossed hers in and called over to her older sister as she pointed to the blue basket,

"Hey Rea. Put your clothes in here."

Reagan threw her clothes in the basket from where she stood and led her sister to the changing rooms. Reagan went in one and Taylor stepped inside of the one next to her closing the door as she got inside. She let the towel fall off of her body and proceeded to put on her comfortable clothes. When she stepped out of the small and claustrophobic room she set her towel on a rack to dry with the others and stared at herself in a mirror on the wall. She looked pretty, not including her wet and tangled hair. Her purple colored shirt made her misty gray eyes have a light shade of purple around the iris and her face was soft and delicate looking now that the dirt was washed off of it. With a sigh and a final glance at herself, Taylor opened the door of the changing rooms and strode down the hallway to her room. When she opened the door she heard Sophia ask from down the hallway,

"Are you going to the rec room with Carl and I?"

"Not now. Maybe later."

replied Taylor as she spun around on her heel to face her friend who was standing outside of a room. She was already dressed and her hair was brushed. Suddenly Carl's face peeked out of the room and before he and Taylor could make eye contact, Taylor turned around and stepped inside of the room she shared with the Peletier girls and her sister. Taylor picked up her brush from the table beside her couch and began to comb her hair and get rid of the tangles. She set the brush down on the table when she was finished and laid down on her couch, closing her eyes and smiling as she sunk into the cushions. She suddenly heard footsteps by the doorway and her eyes snapped open to see Carl staring back at her. She lost herself in the ocean of blue, a light from the hallway glimmered in his eyes, making her like him even more. She snapped out of it as he asked her softly,

"Taylor? Can I come in?"

"Sure. You can. What do you need?"

"To talk..."

answered Carl uneasily. Taylor crossed her legs and made room for Carl on the couch she was on. Carl hesitantly sat on the couch next to her and Taylor said curiously, a bit nervous about what he was going to say,

"Okay. Let's talk."


	9. Unanswered Questions

**Sooooo sorry that I haven't updated in forever. My mom got a new job and she needs the computer almost 24/7 and school has been rough. I plan to update ASAP. Enjoy.**

**Warning: graphic child abuse**

* * *

As soon as she agreed to letting him come in and _talk_, she regretted it. She began to fret over what he had to say to her. Taylor slid one of her black hairbands off of her wrist and began to play with it. Carl and Taylor exchanged awkward glances and Taylor's eyes flashed hazel, showing that she was nervous about the situation she was in. _What if he hates me? What if he came to say that he likes me too? Maybe he came to say that he likes Sophia instead? What's he gonna say to me?_ Carl noticed her nervous behavior and ducked his head down a few inches, trying to meet the girl's gaze. Her eyes returned to their natural cloudy gray when Carl sat up and finally spoke,

"What Daryl said earlier, was it true?"

"Oh... yeah, it was,"

answered Taylor, her face fell as he asked _that _question. She had known that he would ask about that sooner or later though. She hung her head after she replied, for some reason she felt guilty and ashamed for liking him. Taylor kept her head down and chewed on the inside of her cheek as she stared down at her hands in her lap, her wet hair falling over her face. After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, Taylor asked shyly, avoiding Carl's gaze,

"Do you... like me back?"

"I... well, um..."

Carl thought about it, he wasn't completely sure if he liked her or not. Taylor's hopes lifted as he didn't have an answer, he was _actually thinking _about if he liked her or not. She peered up at him through her bangs, watching him as he thought. She lifted her head and shook her hair out of her face and looked him in the eyes, those beautiful blue eyes of his. Carl stared at Taylor's face and his gaze landed on her eyes as he tried to decide. It was her eyes blew him away, the ring of light purple around her iris' caused by the color of her shirt made her soft gray eyes even more breathtaking than he already thought she was. Carl finally managed to halfway answer Taylor's question,

"I mean, as friends yes, but like that... um... well-Sophia's waiting for me-I should go back. Are you coming with me?"

"You can go ahead. I'll catch up with ya in a minute,"

mumbled Taylor softly, she gnawed on her cheek and slipped the hairband around her right wrist again. She watched as Carl stood up and left the room to join Sophia in the rec room. She groaned when Carl was out of earshot and thought to herself angrily, _Dammit Taylor! C'mon! You made yourself look like an idiot in front of him! _She rubbed her face with her hands and sighed, muttering quietly,

"Crap. I'm like a friggin' lovesick puppy,"

Taylor stood up and strode over to the open door and flipped her wet, and still light brown hair over her shoulder. She stepped into the hallway and closed the door to her room and walked alongside Daryl as he strode to the showers with a towel around his waist, the rec room was right across the hallway. Daryl heard footsteps beside his and he glanced down with his blue eyes to see Taylor next to him. He strode faster so he would pass her, he was one hundred percent sure that he _did not_ want to get hit again. Taylor shrieked as she accidentally ran into Glenn as he walked out of his room. He reached out and helped her regain her balance then gazed up to see Daryl's retreating form. Taylor apologized,

"I didn't see you. I'm so sorry."

"It's fine... I'm sorry,"

said Glenn after closing his eyes and shaking his head a little. His words were slurred from all the alcohol he had consumed at dinner. Just then Dale walked by them and stated as he strode to the showers,

"Your words are slurred, son. If I were you I wouldn't drink much more."

"It's not called slurring your words, Dale. It's called talking in cursive. It's quite elegant actually,"

Taylor defended with a grin on her face. Glenn laughed and stumbled back into his room, forgetting that he was just about to take a shower. When he had disappeared from the hallway Taylor continued to go down the hall to meet up with Carl and Sophia in the rec room. She walked in to see Carl and Sophia playing checkers, they were kneeling on either side of a coffee table and the two of them looked up at her arrival. Carol was laying on the small couch in the middle of the room reading a book while Reagan was browsing the many bookshelves against the wall furthest from the door. The older sister spun around and smiled at Taylor and asked as she strode over to her,

"Wanna play chess since you suck at checkers?"

Taylor just shrugged and sat on one of two chairs that were on opposite sides of a chess board on a table. Reagan sighed and sat in the opposite seat, white, she got to move first. Every once in a while, Taylor would glance over her shoulder at Carl. Most of the time he was looking back at her but, as soon as they made eye contact, Taylor looked away. After a few moves for each sister, they turned to face the doorway as Lori entered the room with a glass of wine dangling from her long fingers. Sophia and Carl's heads snapped upon the mother's arrival and Carol turned away from the book she was reading to glance up at her closest friend. Lori chuckled and stepped inside of the room, making everyone go back to what they were doing before she entered. Lori questioned Carol with a grin,

"Any good books?"

"Uh-huh. Enough to keep us busy for years,"

answered Sophia's mother as she shut the book and stared at the large bookshelf that occupied the wall with a smile. Taylor and Reagan moved their chess pieces a few more times before Carol stood up and stated to the four children,

"Alright. C'mon kids, it's bedtime."

"Baby, go say your prayers. I'm gonna browse a bit."

Lori ordered to Carl. Taylor sighed and got out of her chair, she'd finish the game with her big sister later. Sophia stood up and joined her mom while Reagan was right behind the two and Taylor and Carl were next to each other in the back. Carol said to Lori over her shoulder before she exited the room with the four kids,

"This is the first night we actually might get some real sleep. It's a miracle, isn't it?"

Lori hummed in response and Taylor caught Carl's eye and immediately broke his gaze. He still hadn't answered her question and Taylor was wondering why he didn't. Carl went off to his own room and Carol opened the room to her room that she shared with the sisters. Taylor stepped inside and fell on the couch, landing on her back with a groan. She pulled the blankets over her body and curled into a ball on her side as everyone else got comfortable on their couch or bed. Taylor shut her eyes and heard Carol's breathing slow and become even, she was already asleep. Suddenly two voices broke the peaceful silence, both of them were singing,

"Taylor and Carl sittin' in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes love, then comes marriage, then-"

"You shut your mouths and I get some sleep."

finished Taylor with an exasperated sigh. Her response only made Sophia and Reagan giggle but they stopped. Taylor closed her eyes and before she knew it, she was fast asleep, only to be greeted with nightmares of her life before the world went to shit.

_Taylor hopped out of her friend Naivie's car and shut the door behind her before she watched her friend drive away. She was grinning as she strode up the driveway to her front door. It was around 8:30 on a Friday night and she had just gotten back from soccer practice. She frowned at the sight of light shining through the gaps of the curtains. Someone was inside her house. It wasn't Reagan because she was studying with her boyfriend Trenton until nine o'clock. She braced for the worst, her father. She slid the key into the lock and turned it, unlocking the door with a click. Taylor sucked in a deep breath and opened the door to her house, quickly and silently shutting it behind her._

_ The strong smell of alcohol hit her like a brick wall as soon as she stepped foot into the house and she tried not to gag. She glanced over at the old brown couch and saw her father laying on it watching TV. She sucked in another deep breath and tried to walk behind the couch silently so John Burrows wouldn't notice that his youngest daughter was in the room with him. Before the girl could even get two steps closer to the safety of her room, her father's head snapped up and his brown eyes became cold at the sight of Taylor. Taylor's eyes widened and became an electric blue at the sight of her father. She dropped her bag with her soccer ball and goalie gloves in it and made a dash for the hallway to get to her room. it was the only room she felt safe in. She was stopped short as a fist slammed into her stomach, causing her to double over and groan. Her dad roared as Taylor gasped for air,_

_"Where in the hell have ya been!? Where's yer sister?!"_

_Taylor didn't reply to him and instead stood up straight as her lungs filled with air again. When the younger sister didn't answer, her dad ordered angrily as he swung, aiming for Taylor's cheek,_

_"When I ask ya a question you answer me dammit!"_

_Taylor ducked under his arm but, when she tried to run away she tripped over his legs which sent her falling into the corner of the room. She turned around in time to see her father storming towards her, his bloodshot eyes glaring at her. Taylor cowered in the corner, her hands up to protect her face and her shoulders hunched forward, preparing for another blow. It wasn't until her dad kicked her in the ribs, making her sprawl out on the floor, that she realized the she was trapped. Taylor got on her hands and knees and tried to stand up, she was way too vulnerable on the ground. _

_Her father threw another punch, his fist connecting with Taylor's jaw. She clutched her face instinctively and tried to crawl away, only to be kicked back into the corner. She yelped in pain and dug around in her pocket for her cell phone to call Skyler. If she were to call 911 her father would kill her and flee before the police arrived. She took out her phone and punched in the numbers, managing to hit call before her dad kicked her hand and the phone skidded across the room. There was a voice after the first ring and Taylor's spirits lifted, as she heard her best friend's voice say her name. Her father's foot connected with her shin and Taylor grunted in pain and surprise. Skyler's worried voice asked over the phone as he heard her grunts and ragged breathing,  
_

_"Taylor? Taylor! What's wrong? What is it? What's happening? Taylor!?"_

_"It's... my dad,"_

_was all the girl could choke out before receiving another blow to the face. She squeezed her eyes shut and brought up her hands to cover her face. She could her Skyler's footsteps pounding on pavement and his heavy breathing as he ran down the street on the phone. He hadn't hung up on her because he wanted to be sure that she was still alive and conscious as he ran to her house with a baseball bat in his hands. Taylor yelped again as he kicked her in the stomach harder than he had ever done before. She felt her head pounding and she glanced up as a key turned in the lock and the door swung open. It was Skyler, he had his baseball bat in his hands and he was panting like a dog._

Reagan's eyes snapped open as she heard gasping and sheets moving. She glanced over at her younger sister who was lying on the couch on the other side of the room. Taylor was kicking and thrashing around in her sleep, gasping for air. Reagan knew exactly what that meant, _dad_. Reagan threw the blankets off of her and hurried over to her sister. When Reagan reached the girl she pulled the sheets off of her and grabbed her shoulder, shaking her awake. Taylor woke up and was still gasping for air as her ocean blue eyes met a pair of emerald-green. Her breathing slowed and she ran a hand over her sweaty forehead as she realized that it was only her sister. Reagan watched as Taylor's eyes returned to the normal misty gray before she took her hand off of her sister's shoulder. Taylor smiled at her sister but Reagan noticed that it didn't reach her eyes. Reagan stood up and returned to her couch, Taylor didn't need to explain, they both knew that Reagan had done that many times before. Taylor was glad that her sister ended her nightmares. With that Taylor sniffed and closed her eyes again.

* * *

Taylor yawned as she walked down the hall to the dining room beside her sister. They had gotten up a few minutes ago and changed into fresh clothes for the day. Taylor was wearing a black t-shirt with an old pair of jeans while Reagan wore a blue and white striped shirt that was a bit big on her and faded jeans that were cut off at the knee. Taylor mumbled as she finished braiding her hair and kept it in place with a hair tie,

"Mornin'."

Everyone greeted them back kindly except for Glenn and Lori who didn't say anything. Taylor sat between two empty chairs and rubbed her face with her hand, she was not a morning person, whereas her older sister was the exact opposite. Reagan sat in the chair to Taylor's left and watched as T-Dog served them breakfast. T-Dog gave each of the girls a bowl of cereal, two pieces of bacon, a glass of orange juice, and a small serving of eggs. Reagan started to eat the Cheerios first while Taylor ate the bacon with a smile on her face. When she had finished one of the strips she grabbed a spoon and ate the cereal. Halfway through her cereal, she looked around the room and saw Rick walking down the hallway towards them. He said to them after a groan,

"Hello."

"Morning,"

Replied the two sisters and Andrea. Rick sighed and sat down in the empty chair beside his wife while Carl sat on the other side of Lori. As soon as Rick picked up his spoon, Carl asked him curiously while trying to hide his grin,

"Are you hung over? Mom said you'd be."

"Mom _is right,_"

stated Rick with a sarcastic smile. The four kids giggled and Lori finished chewing a piece of bacon before saying,

"Mom has that annoying habit."

"Eggs. Powdered, but I do 'em _good,"_

said T-Dog as he went around the table with a pan, giving everyone another serving of scrambled eggs. Glenn moaned and barely managed to hold his head up with the back of his hand, he was the _most _hung over out of everyone that drank last night. Dale laughed at the man as T came up behind him and slid some eggs onto his empty plate and chuckled,

"I bet you can't tell. Protein helps the hangover."

Glenn only moaned in response and Reagan reached out and patted him on the back while promising,

"It helps Glenn. You'll live."

"Whatever. Don't ever, ever,_ ever _let me drink again,"

groaned Glenn, causing Sophia and Taylor to smile. Just then Shane walked into the room and went straight for the coffee and bacon. Taylor finished up her eggs and drank the last of her orange juice before leaning back in her chair and closing her eyes. She and everyone else turned towards Shane as T-Dog asked him,

"What the hell happened to you? Your neck?"

"I must've done it in my sleep."

responded Shane as he sat down in the chair beside Dale. Taylor leaned in front of Reagan to see what was wrong with Shane's neck. She saw four scratches on the right side of his neck that looked like they were made by fingernails. Reagan was the only one that noticed that Shane glared at Lori but the woman avoided to make eye contact with him. Daryl walked into the room and sat in the only chair remaining, it was the one next to Taylor. The blonde girl said to him after he sat down,

"Mornin', Daryl."

He just grunted in reply and took a piece of bacon off of the plate in the middle of the circular table. Dale started to talk as Jenner entered the room and grabbed a warm cup of coffee,

"Doctor, I don't mean to slam you with questions first thing-"

"But you will anyway."

interrupted Jenner in a grumpy tone. Andrea stated,

"We didn't come here for the eggs. We came here for answers."

* * *

Jenner led the group in the control room he had shown them yesterday on their small tour of the place and set his cup of coffee down on one of the desks before looking up at a projection screen on the wall. Taylor and Reagan followed Carol and Sophia as they wove in and out of the tables with the computers on them so they'd have a better view of what Dr. Jenner was about to show them. Jenner ordered,

"Give me a playback of TS-19."

"_Playback of TS-19._"

responded Vi as she obeyed the scientist's orders. Suddenly, a video appeared on the wall from the projecter and the group began to watch it in awe.


End file.
